Digitale: Digimon Adventures
by luigigirl65
Summary: A deadly game pulls eight teammates into the Digital World. Could a ragtag team of humans and Digimon defeat the rivals the master made? Can they find the true power of their new friends? Can they defeat the horrible Motherboardmon?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER 1: It says Digimon-Undertale as the crossover, but many more media pieces are going to appear. Maybe one you love will appear later! For now, enjoy the ride!**

 **DISCLAIMER 2: I am trying to keep it T (To keep the spirit of Digimon), but could veer into R territory. Prepare for that.**

Heavy tapping.

Quick breathing.

Sweat dropping.

A small fan whirring.

Lights dim.

A young boy was tapping away at his computer, his heart racing and eyes wide. Headphones with a microphone rested on his head of messy hair.

On his screen was the ever-popular game: Digitale: Digimon Adventures.

A gate of steel blocked the path to a strong-looking Hydromon stood before a troop of five Digimon.

"Okay!" the boy yelled, "Round three! Alphys, your strategy?"

 _Alright!_ a squeaky female said through the microphone and into the headphones of the boy, _We need to open with a strong natural attack! We need Asrielmon to turn the attention from our fire fighters!_

 _On it!_ A younger female voice called out.

 _And Mettamon will be able to lay a paralysis! Can you do that, Nappy?_

 _O-of course._

 _Once we got it down, we get the heavy hitters in! Frisk! Comic! Can you do that for me?_

 _Let's fry that fish._

The boy smiled. "Yeah! Papymon and Tormon got the hitting!"

 _W-what about you?_

 _Since I run a water Digimon, I should be able to keep him from fleeing us again. Hopefully Grillby, Bratty, and Kid can join us in time for the raid. Goremon can easily finish them off. Sphinxmon and Chimmon wouldn't help much in this case._

 _I know, having them there could end a bit catty. I would hate to bark up the wrong tree with them._

A collective groan from the raid group.

 _Grill-master has joined the game_

 _CopyBrat has entered the game_

 _IcanplaywithmyFeet has entered the game_

 _Look who decided to show up._

 _Sorry guys. Work ran late today. You know those family businesses._

 _Like, seriously. My girlfriends totally stood me up for the study date!_

 _And my mom told me I have to get off soon. We have a trip planned!_

Frisk laughed at that. "Looks like you all got plans. Boss, tell them the plan."

 _Okay! We don't need Sphinxmon or Chimmon in this next round, but you can watch from the back just for the loot. However, Goremon can finish off the Hydromon once we got his health low enough. Sound cool?_

 _Sounds good for me._

 _I wasn't looking forward to Hydromon myself._

 _Like, I'm with Kid here._

 _Okay! We're going in! Boss Strategist out. Frisk! The key!_

Frisk moved his avatar forward, unlocking the raid to Hydromon.

As the gate opened, the cutscene of the Digimon team walking in played as normal. The on-screen avatars looked around as the camera panned to the boss and the team looked towards the digital monster...

Instead of the water-fish monster they expected to see, they saw what looked like clouds and dark mist.

 _That can't be..._

Frisk squinted, looking at the cloud like a bit of dirt. "Is it my monitor? I'm gonna dust it off."

 _Don't do it!_

He pulled out a screen-cleaning cloth and reached out to clean the screen. As he did, a black tentacle shot out, grabbing his hand and made him drop the cloth.

"Ah!"

 _Yo, Frisk! What happened?_

 _I think he's being attacked!_

 _Everyone! Sit back! This is not my first rodeo!_

 _Alphys! Be careful!_

...

Screaming.

A brunette woman turned, looking to the room of the boy and laughed.

"Oh, my son. He's so focused he thinks he's in the game."

"MOM, HELP!"

A mother's instinct told her that this was not game banter. She dropped the clothing basket she was holding and ran to the door of the room.

"Frisk?! What's going on?!"

"HELP MEEEEE!"

She quickly put her hands on the doorknob and opened the door, seeing her child fighting the tentacle. His right arm was drawn into the monitor with the other holding to the desk. His brown eyes shown a fear the mother never saw before.

"Frisk!"

She ran to him, removing his headset.

"Mommy's here! I got you!"

"MOM, THE GAME IS EATING ME!"

She began to pull against the tentacle, trying to free the child screaming. As she pulled, she heard cries from the headset. She put more weight into her pull and reached out with her left hand, making sure the boy wasn't lost to the computer. She put them on and heard the cacophony of cries from the other side. WIth communication set, she returned to pulling.

"What's going on?! My son is being pulled into the computer!"

 _Miss Dreemurr!_

 _Don't worry!_ Alphys called out, _I saw this before! I can save him before it's too late! Just flee the room and I can save him!_

More screams. The sound of panicking parents, children, and pets crying, trying to get the other players. All but Alphys seemed to be scared.

"Can you save them?" Frisk's mom yelled.

A sigh came from Alphys. _Forgive me Miss Dreemurr. Mister Gaster... Daughter Fire... Everyone... But I got this._

A wave of electricity came from the tentacle, forcing the mother to let go. Frisk screamed more, his screams fading.

 _I can get them justice..._

The female voice faded as well, vanishing into nothing.

Nothing.

Silence.

Breathing heard from friends and family.

The screens went quiet. All was black and dark...

A green face appeared, smiling. The phone in the mother's apron. The television set up in the room. It was like this image was everywhere.

 ** _Thank you all for your payment into the games!_**

She clenched her fists. "What did you do?!"

 _ **Thanks to the sacrifices of so many people, we have enough to begin our first competition!**_

She grabbed the monitor, beginning to shake it violently. "WHERE IS MY SON, BEAST?!"

The face of the computer winked, sticking its tongue out. _**Well, that is what you have to see tonight! Let the Digitale Royale begin!**_


	2. Chapter 2

"Frisk! Frisk!"

Frisk groaned, feeling a pressure on his chest and fur tickling his nose. His eyes slowly opened, his eyes locking with a large pair of red orbs. In panic, he flung the creature off, scrambling backwards.

"Don't lay eggs in my stomach!" Only from this distance could he see what this was. It was just a head, covered in white fur. Her ears were tipped in red and looked like they would drag if she walked. While this scared him at first, he felt this was... familiar. "Wait..." he finally choked out, "Gomommon?"

She began to bounce in place, a smile plastered on her face. "I knew you'd remember me!" she said in a perky voice, "My human! My Frisk!" She bounced higher and higher, trying to make eye contact, only to get him to catch her.

"Aaaand I'm holding her now! Oh boy, this has to be a dream! I've been playing too much!"

"Playing what? Can I play?"

"I'm sorry, but it's not everyday I get a Training Digimon in my arms!"

"Not everyday my human comes here!" The Digimon began to squirm, causing the boy to drop her. She seemed unfazed by this, bouncing forward and looking back. "Come on! Home Base is this way!" She began to bounce down a worn path. Frisk looked down at himself, dusting off his striped sweater.

"Frisk! Come on!"

"Uh... coming, Gomommon!"

...

"This way! This way!"

"Alright, don't have to shout!"

The head bounced into a clearing. Frisk brushed some plants aside, blinking to adjust to the light shift. As the vision cleared, he saw a large, adobe hut of sorts. A few windows were molded out of it. It was childish, but looked homely.

"Wow! The Butterberries!"

He looked down, seeing Gomommon bouncing to a bush with bright yellow berries. She bounced up, grabbing a mouthful from higher branches. She noisily chewed them.

"And they're ripe! I can make a pie if the others return with Cinna Leaves!"

He recognized this odd bush too. Butterberries were nutritious fruits Training Digimon grew in order to get energy to Digivole to their Rookie stages. Cinna Leaves sounded familiar as they served a similar purpose.

"Okay, I'm sure this is a dream. No way I made it into the world of the game."

"Try some, Frisk!"

"Wha-"

The Digimon leapt up, shoving a yellow berry in his mouth. He didn't want to disappoint the Digimon he chose in his gameplay, so began to chew. He was shocked to be hit with the taste of butterscotch candy dancing over his tongue. This was nothing no dream could produce.

"Good, huh? And the crop is ready to harvest! Wanna help?"

His eyes opened, broken from his berry-induced bliss. The creature was looking at him with big eyes, begging for him to help.

"Well, I don't think I can say no to that face."

"Yay! My human is gonna help with the berry harvest!"

...

Despite being small bushes, the plants produced a lot of fruit. It was a pleasant day to pick berries with a goat head. Frisk was in total love with the small Butterberry garden and Gomommon was happy to see him happy.

"Gomommon!"

A new voice.

"Don't run from me ike that!"

Familiar voices. Frisk looked up, seeing a goat head like Gomommon appear from the woods. Its ears were a golden yellow, matching the small mustache it had. Small horns were on its head, as if they were barely forming.

Behind him was an unfamiliar human. He was an adult in a black tank top and sweatpants. His fiery red hair was tied in a ponytail. However, his voice was familiar.

"Grillby?"

The man stopped, looking at the boy in shock. "Frisk?"

The head rubbed up against Frisk's partner.

"Gopopmon!"

"Gomommon!"

Frisk stepped forward. People one has seen fill characters in dreams, but this man looked unfamiliar.

"You're a man?"

"Hey, I said it was a family business," he replied. Quick as a whip, just like Grillby was. There was no denying it.

This was real.

...

"Gopopmon! Gomommon! I got the Cinna Leaves and a friend!"

A teenage boy appeared with a skeleton skull in his hands. His hair was bleached white and he looked like he hasn't slept in weeks. He was heavier, but had a strong smile. The skull was cute, his sockets wide and jaw forming a smile.

"Heya."

"Comic?" Frisk asked in confusion.

The boy chuckled. "Comic-Sans-365 here. Just call me Sans."

The skull looked at the child, slightly annoyed. "Hey! You forgot me! Your partner, the Great Boneymon!"

The goat heads laughed.

"We didn't forget!"

"You have Cinna Leaves? Joy! I can make pie tonight!"

Gopopmon's eyes sparkled at that idea. "Butterberry-Cinnaleave Pie? That's great! I'll sound the bell!"

"Bell?" Grillby asked, seeing his partner vanish into the house. A few moments later, a bell began to tinkle. Nothing like a church bell. Just a tinkle.

The other Digimon ran inside the house, causing the three humans to exchange glances. They followed the beings in.

The inside was familiar, yet alien to the gamers.

There was a staircase leading into a sunken area. Centered was a rug with a fireplace near it. This area was for meetings of sorts, as the troop used before. To the right was a small kitchen area with a mud oven and some crudely made shelves and holes to store food. There was also a pit filled with water leading to a river outside the hut. To the left was a ladder to the top of the adobe house, all held up by a wall with missions and a case to store loot. A loft shown one big leaf bed for the inhabitants. A rope hung next to it, probably to ring the bell.

"Is there anyone else here?"

Gomommon looked back and laughed. "Of course! They should be coming if they heard the bell!" She hopped to the kitchen area and put her basket of berries down. "We're lucky we harvested so much! We can feed twenty for a week with this many!"

Frisk chuckled. "That's a diet I don't mind living off." He walked to the kitchenette and put his basket down.

"Poltermon! Wait up!"

A small, pink Digimon fazed through a wall, flipping around in the center of the room.

"Come on, Nappy dear! Gomommon is making pie!"

The humans' eyes widened. "Nappy?!"

A young boy, no older than six, ran in. His eyes were red, skin pale, and hair white, meaning he was an albino. He wore a hoodie over his body and the drawstrings held the opening to a minimum. As he entered, he pulled the hood down. The ghost Digimon returned to the side of the boy.

"Poltermon, you scared me! I thought you abandoned me!"

"I would never abandon you!" He rubbed his cheek against the kid's cheek.

"Woah."

He looked up, stepping back from the three humans.

"You're Nappy?"

He averted his gaze, his arms reaching for Poltermon. He hugged the ghost, nodding slightly.

"Cool!" Frisk said in a loud voice.

He looked back. "Cool?"

"I didn't know you looked so cool, Nappy!"

Grillby nodded in agreement. "I never thought I'd see one with your condition."

Sans chuckled. "What's wrong? You look like you never get this kind of compliment."

He opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off.

"Totes cool! We're having pie! I can smell it, girl!"

"Kittenmon, girl, I can eat like anything right now, I'm so hungry!"

A dark-skinned female with blonde hair walked in carrying a small, purple cat Digimon with tiny paws.

"Oh. Em. Gee. There's more humans!"

The confidence of her approach and style of speaking was familiar to them all.

"Bratty!" they all said in unison.

She looked back, smiled, and laughed. "Woah, you guys are like, my teammates! I totally recognize your voices!"

The Digimon, Kittenmon, mewed in happiness. "Like, I totally didn't expect this many humans in one day! This is totally cool! Home Base is gonna, like, rock now!"

A cheery voice sounded outside. Everyone turned, seeing a small, doglike head come in. Her ears were black, contrasting her white face. The boy's hair was cut messily and he looked happy, despite being in a wheelchair.

"Temmon found humans with friends!"

"Hey! Good job, Temmon!" She leapt into his arms, looking back at everyone.

"And, like, you must be Kid!"

"Bratty! I'm so glad to hear your voice! You look great!"

"Aw, shucks, Kid!"

Sans stepped forward, counting everyone. As he got to six, he heard something from the water behind them. Everyone turned to the kitchenette, seeing bubbles rise from the water leading to the river.

 _Pop!_

An orange fish popped out of the water, followed by a heavy female. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and her glasses were crooked. She wore a hoodie with a Digitale character on it.

"Koimon!"

"Guys," the fish Digimon said, "This is Alphys! She's the human I told you about!"

The Training Digimon cooed in amazement.

"Alphys?"

The girl looked up, eyes wide. "Team?"

...

A fire was going in the fireplace. The group was seated around the rug. The scent of pie filled the room as the little Gomommon was cooking.

"So," Frisk said, looking to the group, "We're all trapped here?"

The humans nodded.

"The game has given the Digimon we chose at the beginning of our games," Alphys stated, "So I guess we have to help them grow."

Kid sighed. "Help them? The forest was near impossible if you can't walk..." He looked to his wheelchair.

Temmon perked up. "Temmon help! Temmon real smart! Temmon can make good happen!" The dog head began to push the wheelchair to the notice board. She pushed a stone into the wall, making the board open, revealing a passageway.

"The Forge!"

"Temmon help human friend!" She vanished into the hole, the wall closing behind her.

"Should we be worried?" Nappy asked.

"Nah, Temmon is like, the brains of our group," Kittenmon said.

Poltermon nodded. "She came up with the plans to build Home Base! Every inch of mud is her idea!"

Boneymon added his two cents. "She can definitely help Kid walk these woods!"

"If you say so..." Nappy said in response.

"I trust her," Kid said with a smile, "She helped me get out in the first place!"

Gomommon jumped to the semicircle of humans and Digimon, leaping into Frisk's lap. "The pies are cooling. Hopefully they'll be ready in half an hour!"

The group began to chatter, the scent of cooling pies floating out of the room and filling the air around the house.

A roar broke the silence. Every Digimon was on edge. They turned to the window the pies were cooling at. A pair of red eyes was glaring in.

"Invaders!" Gopopmon cried.

The wall opened again, revealing Temmon. "Temmon heard noises!"

An unknown voice was heard.

"Oh no! Inhabited! Get ready!"

The Digimon ran outside, finding themselves face-to-face with a black hound Digimon.

"Oh no! Fenrirmon!"

"Fenrirmon?" Frisk yelled.

Temmon piped up. "Fenrirmon is vicious doggy from dark place! His Helblaze Fang can burn any opponent!"

Behind him was a female. She wore a black dress and had two, long pigtails full of pastel blue and pink hair.

"Listen closely. I just need some pie for my troop."

Gomommon stepped forward. "Not on out watch!"

Alphys began to shiver. "Careful! Fenrirmon is a Champion Digimon! He had enough time to train!"

"We got this, dears!"

"Let's show them what we got!"

The Digimon lined up, their mouths beginning to fire bubbles at the beast. The hound was unaffected, easily reaching out and swiping them all aside.

"No!" Frisk stepped forward, but was pulled back by Grillby.

"Frisk, don't be stupid! She wants you to go in!"

The girl pet her Digimon, looking to the humans. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I just need your pies."

"Over my dead body!"

She sighed. "Wanting to die for pies. Fine." She put her hand out. "Fenrirmon. Helfire Fang them."

"Yes, Hel." His fangs lit up in purple fire, lunging at the humans. She screamed, holding onto each other in fear. From each of their chests, a light shot out, firing at their fallen Digimon partners.

"Gomommon, Digivolve to..." the goat head rose up, a body forming from it. What came out was a little girl goat in a short dress, a heart on the chest of the being. "...Dreemamon!"

"Gopopmon, Digivolve to..." The light faded to reveal a goat being the same height as Dreemamon. His mustache was more full and a cape hung from his shoulders. "...Dreepamon!"

"Boneymon, Digivolve to..." A skeleton popped out. It had a red scarf and a large breastplate, too big for its childish body. "...Papymon!"

"Poltermon, Digivolve to..." The little phantom grew longer, a pair of arms coming from its pinkening body. "...Hapstamon!"

"Kittenmon, Digivolve to..." The body of the cat was quickly filled in, giving room between the head and feet. "...Cattymon!"

"Temmon, Digivole to..." The hair on the dog head became more defined and a small canine body began to form. "...Temmiemon!"

"Koimon, Digivolve to..." The small fish began to grow a human body, the leg replaced with a tail. The orange was replaced with teal colors. "...Mermaidmon!"

Fenrirmon was shocked to see seven Rookies standing where the Training Digimon laid. The humans were all in shock.

"They all... Digivolved?"

Dreemamon smirked. "Let's tame this dog!"

"On it, darling! Haunted song!" The pink phantom began to sing a cacophony of a song, causing the beast to freeze in place.

"Temmiemon in! Hole Trap!" Her paws quickly dug into the ground, vanishing below the hound Digimon. As quickly as she vanished, the ground gave way, leaving the Fenrirmon stuck in a hole.

"Let's finish him! Heart Pulse Fire!"

"Breakdown Flame!"

"Blue Bones!"

"Cat Scratch Fever!"

"Fish Spear!"

The five new attacks fired into the hole, causing an explosion of dust to rise up. As the dust cleared, a smaller dog laid, panting.

"Garmmon!"

The girl, Hel, ran forward and pulled her Digimon from the hole. "Are you hurt? Please wake up!"

The red eyes of the dog slowly opened. "I'm sorry... Hel..."

She smiled, hugging her partner. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have led you here..." The Humans came forward. Grillby hoisted the disabled boy onto his shoulders. Hel looked up, her face falling into fear. "I-I'm sorry! Our troop, Valhalla Warriors... we didn't have a Butterberry field! It was destroyed! We needed food and... I offered to get it... I am so sorry for the trouble..."

Dreemamon giggled and trotted inside, returning with a basket filled to the brim with Butterberries. "You could have asked! Just plant a few of these and some will grow in a few digital hours! You'll have enough to feed your team!"

She looked to the basket, her hands shaking in shock. She looked back at the goat girl, tears forming, but quickly stopped. "Thank you!" She stood up, helping Garmmon to their feet. "I'll let Odin know. He'll be so happy to have a field again! And let it be known that Valhalla Warriors is now allied with..."

Frisk stepped forward, siding next to his partner. "Underground Fighters."

Hel smiled. "...Underground Fighters! Thank you! We'll make sure your troop will not be raided by anyone!"

...

"Sorry for the leaves. We can't afford blankets."

Frisk laid in the new pile of leaves, looking at his Digimon. "We'll be fine. We got allies and they'll help us upgrade!"

Dreemamon smiled. "I knew you'd be like this."

"How?"

She blinked. "A real confident friend. I saw how you led everyone so..."

That got his mind working. He averted his eyes, looking over at the other humans asleep with their partners.

"One short..."

"Huh?"

He looked back, concerned. "My sister. Chara."

...

"Go on, Gobromon. Eat."

A small goat head looked up at the girl. She had neat, brown hair and red eyes. She smiled weakly. The goat himself had leaves for ears, but looked just like Gopopmon and Gomommon in many ways.

"But Chara, you didn't eat."

"You saw Allen and Battymon... He gave up his meal so he can find his troop. I want you to get strong before Master finds out..."

Gobromon looked down at the small portions of food meant to sustain the human. "At least one Butterberry..."

"No. You eat. I'll be fine."

Heavy steps were heard and a guard appeared.

"Eat, human. We can't test if you're hungry."

She nodded, popping a few berries into her mouth and feigning chewing. as the guard left, she spat them out. "Yuck. Butterscotch."

"You dislike butterscotch?"

"I prefer chocolate... just eat. We'll be out soon."


	3. Chapter 3

The area the new allies rested in was more rocky than expected... then again, a mountain near their base was unexpected. Dreemamon and Frisk were scaling this area trying to pay the Valhalla Warriors a visit. Of course, Frisk was struggling to climb the rock face, unlike his partner.

"We're almost there!" Dreemamon called to the human.

Frisk was breathing heavily, not used to this amount of movement. "You said that an hour ago!"

"We've been doing this for fifteen minutes."

"I wouldn't know..."

He found a small outcrop to sit on for a rest, leaving the goat Digimon to join him in concern.

"Sorry. I must be holding you back."

"Don't say that! You're doing great!"

"I bet you say that to everyone."

"I don't!"

He shot her a look, showing how he thought otherwise.

"Okay, I do, but this time it's for you!"

A loud roar was heard, causing the two to look upwards. A large, dragon Digimon has appeared, circling the air above their spot. They flinched, seeing it quickly turn and dive to their location. They both screamed in shock, holding onto each other, hoping it wasn't the end.

"Woah, Fafnirmon! It's cool. They're allies."

"Allies? When did we get allies?"

"Last night when Hel came back with the Butterberries."

Allies. Hel. Berries. Frisk looked to the two, seeing a human sitting on the back of the dragon. He had windswept brown hair and piercing red eyes. His armor was that made for a dragon rider. He simply smiled at the two.

"Hey. Underground Fighters, right?"

Frisk slowly nodded, causing the male to put his hand out.

"Name's Sigurd. I guard Valhalla Warriors. Sorry to scare you like that, but Fafnirmon is a bit protective of his friends."

"Hey, don't call me out on this."

Sigurd chuckled, continuing to speak. "Come on. Hel told us to help and Underground Fighters up the mountain."

Frisk exchanged looks with a very worried Dreemamon.

"I guess it's alright. He said we ARE allies." He reached out, taking the hand of the other human, which pulled him onto the dragon Digimon. "You coming?"

Dreemamon nodded slowly, jumping onto the back of the dragon as well.

"Okay, hold on! The wind's strong up there!" He turned to his partner, whispering something to him. He nodded, giving a strong flap of the wings to fly upwards. It caused Dreemamon to bleat in shock, but Frisk just cheered to feel the wind around him like a tempest.

Fafnirmon's ascent stopped suddenly, but calmly. Frisk began to look around, seeing the extent of the land they were in.

It was like a whole continent. The forest they lived in gave way to a mountain range and a river. Down the river was a jungle, a desert, plains, all speckled with bases of sorts. There was even an ocean visible to the boy.

"Welcome to the Digital World, guys!" Sigurd yelled, trying to overpower the sound of the wind, "We're on the Java Continent, one of seven on our maps!"

"This is amazing!" Frisk yelled, his eyes scanning the area around them.

"I think I'm going to vomit..." his partner mumbled.

"Trust me, it gets way better! Enough fooling, I gotta get you to the base!"

...

Dust was kicked up as Fafnirmon landed. The three got off, and as they did, the large dragon shrank down to about Dreemamon's size. The Digimon looked less terrifying than before.

"Thanks, Fafimon."

"Hey, it's what I do."

Frisk quickly saw a small, growing garden, where a face popped out. Next to her was a furry deerlike creature.

"Idun! This is the leader of the troop who saved the crop!"

She seemed way too happy to hear that, waving manically. "Amazing! Thizimon, say hi!"

The partner of the woman began to wave as well, adorably trying to hit the same enthusiasm of his friend.

"Sigurd! Did they make it up safely?"

The next voice was familiar. The four turned to see Hel standing in the doorway of their base. Next to her was Garmmon himself.

Sigurd smiled and nodded. "Of course they did. I never let this team or their allies get hurt!"

Fafimon looked up. "Easy for you to say. I did all the lifting."

The female began to motion to Frisk. "Come on. Our leader wanted to speak to you."

"Your leader?" Frisk asked in confusion.

"Well, your team did kinda save our team from starvation. He was waiting for you to come so he can thank you personally."

...

The inside of this base had the same sunken floor as their base, but was made of stone rather than clay. It looked more advanced than their own base, even having beds and running water. A few chairs were seated in a semicircle around the fireplace... ten to be exact. In one of them was a man. His hair reached his shoulders and his clothing looked more regal. Next to him was his partner Digimon. He looked like a little boy, but with blue skin and lighter blue hair.

"Thank you, Hel and Garmmon."

The girl and Digimon bowed and left the base. The man stood up and turned around, revealing his face. His right eye was covered with a patch and his only visible one was blue.

"So, you must be Dreemamon and her partner."

They both were silent, exchanging worried looks.

"Frisk. My name is Frisk, sir," the boy said in a low voice.

The man put his hand out, a slight smile appearing on his face. "A great name for a great leader. I am Odin, leader of Valhalla Warriors. I would like to thank you both for saving our troop."

Dreemamon was obviously on edge, her ears hanging low and body shaking. She knew what she did was right, but she felt she did something wrong. "Well, it was the right thing to do."

"I actually have something to repay your troop for helping ours. Follow." He turned and began to walk to the left side of the base where the notice board was. Next to it was a shelf displaying USB sticks.

"What are those?"

"Slain Digimon. We gather these as trophies to prove our might. Many players do it and seeing as you are new here, you should take note of it." He reached behind the drives and pushed a part of the case into the wall. The case vanished, revealing a small hole.

"Ymirmon."

The blue Digimon looked up. "On it!" He ran over to Odin, allowing him to pick him up so he can reach in. He pulled out eight necklaces of sorts... they looked like empty dogtags. He handed them to the leader before jumping out of his arms.

"I have several questions," Frisk mumbled.

"We've been collecting these from other troops who disrespect their Digimon partners. They are what we call 'Tags'. When you created your character and chose your Digimon, a Tag was made along with a Crest to fill it."

"Not helping, sir."

"A Crest only activates when someone of a matching personality trait. Once united, they have the ability to let a Digimon Digivolve even further. I want you and your team to have these. Consider this as repayment for the berries." He took Frisk's hand and dropped them into his palm.

"I don't know if I can."

"Trust me. You'll need these if you want to get to the Finals."

"Finals?"

Odin sighed, turning away to close the hidden compartment. "I myself don't fully grasp the game we're in, but it's not good. I only wish to help in any way our troop can."

...

"And these are what he gave us."

Alphys carefully took one from Frisk, looking it over curiously. "Interesting. The Tag update was not meant to be released until May."

Dreemamon looked up at her partner, then to the tags in his hand. "We are really lucky to have a team like Odin's at our side. They could assist us you plan to lead us to the Finals."

"Th-the Finals?" Alphys said is shock, "Oh dear, it's like Yugi and Joey over again if that's the case!"

Everyone laughed at her slight panic. Mermiadmon glared at them, going to her side. "Hey, it's not funny, guys! She just really likes anime!"

Frisk began to walk to the humans of the group, handing out the tags. "If we have to defeat Valhalla Warriors, we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there. For now, they're going to help us."

...

"Asimon, stay determined!"

Another shock went through the goat Digimon's body. He looked bigger, a small cape on his back covering a purple robe. His red eyes closed, trying to resist the electrical flow in his body. Chara began to sob again, seeing the one she grew to love hurt.

"Silence!"

A large guard Digimon, a Heimdallmon, smacked the child with a shield. She fell forward, her tears mixing with red blood.

"Our Mother won't be disturbed in her job!"

She looked up, scowling angrily. "Bite me."

Asimon looked up, tears falling. "Just stop, Chara. It's not gonna help... Just let them force me in..."

"You should listen to him, child. He's wise to say that."

She growled, glaring at the Heimdallmon again. "I'd rather die than you force his Digivolution."

Another scream from Asimon as he was shocked. Chara's tears began to fall again.

 _I'm gonna get us out, Asimon. Trust me._


	4. Chapter 4

Dreemamon was busy picking berries this morning, humming a tune to herself. She carefully picked a berry from the bush and gingerly placed them into her basket. It was much easier to pick berries when you had arms and legs. It made it easier to reach the tops of the bushes.

"Dreemamon!"

She looked up to see Frisk. His brown eyes shown a lovely sparkle as he waved at her.

"I wanted to start looking for the Crest! Did you want to come?"

She looked to him, then the basket, and back to him. "But our pie!"

"Hey, Papymon says he has it! Mermaidmon's gonna help him!"

Once again, she was looking to the basket. After a moment of thinking, she placed it down. "Okay. I'll come!"

"Awesome! Come on! I have an idea where to look!"

...

The forest path shown little light as they went through. It was a cool morning. The path opened to a mountain.

"Data Mountain?"

"Yeah! If Crests are supposed to make a Digimon stronger, it's gotta be somewhere up there!"

"But you can't handle mountains! You barely could handle the mountain for our allies!"

He looked back at her. His eyes were aflame with something she didn't see yesterday. Warm. Her chest began to feel warm as he smiled happily.

"Well, if we want to get stronger, we're gonna need to do it! I'm determined to do so!"

The feeling of determination must have been making her feel that warmth. It was almost like it was contagious. "Okay. I trust you, Frisk."

...

The air was growing thin as they grew higher. Frisk, despite his inability to keep up with his partner, was still climbing with a determination Dreemamon didn't see before. His breath was heavy, trying to get any oxygen he can, but he was not stopping. Not giving up.

"You're getting good at this!"

"You bet! I want to see you at peak performance, Dreemamon, even if it means getting a bit winded on some mountain!"

"Well, I just want to see you alive. Data Mountain is known for being home of strong troops. We could easily be spotted up here."

They found an outcrop and decided to rest. As they sat, they finally were able to see the entire area they were in. It was just like how is was on Fafnirmon. Breathtaking. Dreemamon pulled out a Butterberry from her dress, offering it to Frisk. He happily accepted the offer, but placed it into his pocket.

"Is it doing anything?"

Frisk looked to his tag. Alas, nothing was happening.

"Are they supposed to do something?"

"I think they're meant to glow when a Crest is near..." She began to looked around, her nose sniffing the air. "We're high up. If we can't find the crest, we might as well find some produce to bring home. The rare mountain plants will be easier to raise with limited water."

"I'm down."

...

An alarm was going off.

There was a panicked rush of feet running.

A blonde male was holding a tablet, looking the area over. An eagle Digimon landed on his shoulder.

"Hey, dude. Someone coming up?"

"It's not anyone from the Beach Gems or Solar Cresents. We must assume it's an intruder."

"Mister Kirkland!"

He turned, his eyes meeting with a strong-looking blonde male. He wore a green coat over his body and his blue eyes were as cold as a soldier's should be. A contrast to his Digimon partner, a small fairy in a box.

"We have gained a visual of the intruder!"

"Very well, Ludwig. Let me see the bugger."

Ludwig pulled out a tablet, turning it to show the leader.

"Bro, it's just a Dreemamon and a boy. Nothing much. We don't need to call the the guys from gathering food and stuff."

His eyes widened. "Libermon, look." He zoomed in to the boy, showing an empty tag. His head raised, turning to project his voice. "Code Green! The intruder has a Tag! Get the cell ready as Libermon and I go retrieve them!"

He ran out the door, Libermon flying ahead and landing before him.

"C'mon, Arthur! I'm itching for a fight!"

"Calm down. I'm getting to it." His hands went to his chest, an image of a star forming and shooting to the eagle. The Digimon was surrounded in light.

"Libermon, digivolve to..." as the light cleared, there was a man with wings for arms and a feathery mask covering his face, "...Unisonmon!" He looked down at Arthur, a manic smile on his face. "Come on already!"

...

A shadow. A screech.

The two looked up.

"Oh no! Unisonmon!"

Frisk looked to his partner. "Unisonmon?"

"He's a vicious harpy that only fights if lives are at stake! They must have seen your tag!"

The Digimon flew past them. It was almost like a blur, but as they passed, the tag went missing.

"My tag!"

Dreemamon growled, leaping up to meet the Digimon as he flew past again.

"Heart Blaze Fire!"

Her hands formed a heart of fire, sending it flying to the Unisonmon. A direct hit, but it only got its attention. Only then did they see a male on its shoulders.

"Freedom Starshower!" His wings opened up, a flurry of red, white, and blue stars assaulting the Rookie.

"Aah!"

"Dreemamon! Stay determined! We'll get through this!"

She was stunned by the brilliant attack, but stood up. "Heart Blaze Fire!" She formed another heart and sent it flying, barely missing the attacker.

"Woah, we got a feisty cutie here! Well, I gotcha a Freedom Starshower!" More stars, blasting the goat Digimon. As the dust clears, she was standing still.

"Come on! Do another one!"

Her eyes opened, revealing blank, white slates.

"Oh no... Freedom Starshower has a chance to blind opponents..."

"Bloody right, bugger!"

He turned, seeing the male again. His eyes were a bright green and his eyebrows were very, very thick.

"Now, just surrender. Your tag and chance at the Crest is gone!"

"Never! A kid like me never quits! Especially to a guy with trees for eyebrows!"

That seemed to piss him off.

"Grab them both. We have to interrogate."

...

The Forge of a base is known for having the means to upgrade weapons and armor, but also to torture prisoners with the heat.

Dreemamon was still blind, but knew where they were.

"Where did you get the tag?" a heavy, German voice snapped.

"I refuse!"

She tried to look around,but nothing was visible.

"Who gave you the tag?!"

"I won't speak! You can hold me until I die, but I will never talk!"

Her paws began to feel around. Floor. Stone. Warm to the touch. Rough. She felt around. She touched a leg.

"You alright?"

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

Ah. Frisk.

She turned to the yelling voice. Slowly crawling. Feeling.

Softness. Like a peach. Through hot metal bars.

"Ah! So soft!"

A Digimon.

"Tomatmon, leave the prisoner alone."

Then that must be his partner.

"Sorry, but she's so pretty!"

"She's capable of destroying us. We need to make it to the Finals and the last thing I want is for you to die." A moment to gain his breath and he continued to speak. "Now, I don't want to hurt you, either, child. But I am losing my patience. Who gave you the tag?"

"I will never speak!"

"Fine. Then let this heat open you up."

Footsteps. A door opening.

"Don't worry, bella! I will come back for you!"

"Tomatmon!"

"Coming!"

The door closed.

"Dreemamon, are you alright?"

"I can't... see..."

Frisk's hand nudged her, causing her to turn. His hand took her paw and placed something in it.

"I think I read when raw, a Butterberry can cure some conditions. Maybe it can help your blindness."

She slowly moved her paw to her mouth, popping the berry in. She chewed slowly, but her vision began to return. Only then did she see the concern in his eyes.

"Can you see?"

"Uh-huh."

He smiled. "Alright. I already devised a strategy out. Just help me with the hole." He turned, beginning to push warm rocks around to reveal a small ditch. "We gotta get out and away. I'm sure of it."

"You're gonna get hurt."

"But if we don't, we're not gonna make it back. The others might already be worried!"

Her heart began to feel warm. Warmer than the room around them. Frisk was unaware his chest was lighting up with a heart.

 _"I'M DETERMINED TO ESCAPE!"_

This warm energy. His determination. It was back, but much stronger. Something was beginning to arise in the Digimon. Her fur was lighting up with red fire.

"Dreemamon? Are you okay?!"

White light filled the cell.

"Dreemamon, digivolve to..." Her body began to grow. Taller than the boy. Horns began to form on her head. Her little dress began to flow into a purple gown with white sleeves.

"...Tormon!"

The light faded as the Champion Digimon had her back turned to Frisk.

"What just happened?!"

"Worry not, my child. I am Tormon. As the mother for many Digimon, my Heartache Blaze will free us from this stronghold!" Her hands went level to her chest, a soft 'badum badum' sounding. "Heartache Blaze!"

A blast of red flames flew out, turning the iron bars holding the two in into a puddle.

"Woah! Tormon, that was amazing!"

She smiled to her human partner. "It is not all I can do, my child. Come on. We're escaping."

...

"Mama mia, why did the others have to find resources now?!"

"Breach in the prison cell, mister Kirkland!"

Arthur turned to Ludwig in shock. His hand was holding the stolen tag. "What?!"

The Forge door was blasted open, revealing a tall goat Digimon with her partner.

"Surprise."

Libermon looked to his partner. "What do we do?! I can't Digivolve until I regain energy!"

"It's fine. It's two against one."

Frisk ran ahead of his partner, smirking smugly. Tormon's face contorted to a smile, giggling slightly.

"Are you sure, sir? Looks like Tomatmon is out for the count."

His eyes widened, causing him to turn. The little fairy was bouncing out the door, making his partner run out after him, calling for his return.

"Crap."

"Don't worry, dude! I got this!" Libermon flew forward, trying to fly at the eye level of Tormon. "Eagle Screech!" His beak opened, screeching at the goat, only to slightly disturb the fur of the opponent. "Huh?"

She smirked, tapping a red, flaming finger on his head. His eyes turned a bright pink and he fell, hitting the floor.

"Libermon!"

"Mother's Love. Infatuates opponents. He's willing to fight for me and my child now."

The Digimon shifted, getting to his feet. The pink eyes of the eagle were locked with the human's.

"Now, Libermon. Please get our Tag back."

He reached forward, biting Arthur's arm. He yelped, his hand opening and dropping the item. As it fell, the eagle picked it up and flew over to Frisk, putting it around his neck once more.

"Thank you, Libermon! Love you to pieces!"

The Rookie giggled as if he was just being flirted with before falling over.

Tormon put her hand out, allowing Frisk to climb onto her shoulders. He smiled, placing a kiss on her head.

"Tormon, you're amazing."

"Well, if was your determination that brought me here. In that way, you're just as amazing."

She began to walk to the doorway, only for Frisk to tell her to stop. He turned, locking eyes with the bewildered Arthur.

"Oh, and to answer where I got this tag... Valhalla Warriors. Try to get them, but we're gonna be there to stop you."

Arthur began to yell obscenities, enraged by the cockiness of the child. Tormon blasted the door open, allowing the space for them to bound out.

The gravity of the world below didn't stop them. It was as if they were weightless in the space between earth and sky. Frisk gave a loud scream, reveling in the pure joy of the moment.

...

 _THUD_

Loud snoring was broken by a landing. Sans' eyes shot open in shock.

"Oh my gosh, you are so lazy!"

Papymon was looking down at the human, unamused by his sleep schedule. Sans yawned, stretching in an attempt to feel alive.

"Guys! We're back!"

Frisk's voice echoed through the base. That made Sans sit up.

"Kid?"

...

"Is that...?"

Tormon giggled, seeing the shock in the eyes of the two that shown up to greet them.

"Wowie! Dreemamon digivolved! That's so cool!" Papymon began to shake his partner happily. "I wanna Digivolve too! Sans, we need to train!"

The goat Digimon began to glow, shrinking back down to Dreemamon's size. As the light vanished, she began to shake slightly, falling over for Frisk to catch her.

"Yeah, she just led the greatest escape I ever saw! Tormon was awesome!" He looked down to his partner, smiling. "And Dreemamon is equally awesome."

...

 _Ding sing ding! Ding ding ding!_

Alphys looked up, seeing the notice board light up. She motioned to her partner and they walked over to it, Alphys reaching out to touch it. As her hand met the wood, ink began to seep from it, forming images and words.

Raid: Success

Troop Fought: Hetaworld Power

Residents present in Raid: Arthur Kirkland and Libermon

Attackers: Frisk Dreemurr and Tormon

Her mouth formed a slight smile.

"They seem to be doing a lot, Mermaidmon. I hope they know their limits."

She looked up, a solemn look on her face. "Me too. I don't want THAT to happen again..."


	5. Chapter 5

_Plop_

A makeshift hook made of wood landed in the lake, weighed down be a small stone. Grillby sighed, trying to hold the pole while tending a small fire.

"You don't have to do that, Grillby. I can handle the fire." He looked over to his partner, Dreepamon. His red eyes were looking up with concern. "You know Bratty and Cattymon offered to tend the fire."

"But they're going to get wood. I need to keep it alive."

The pole Grillby held with one hand began to pull away. He was trying to pull it back without looking away from his partner.

"But the fish!"

The pole snapped, sending the broken top flying into the lake. The man tried to reach for it, almost falling into the lake. Dreepamon quickly caught his hand, pulling him back.

"For the love of..." the man sat back down on the ground, grumbling to himself. Dreepamon sighed, sitting next to him with a similar slump.

"Sorry, Grillby."

"It's kinda hard... I was in charge of a family restaurant in my world."

"Really?"

"There, my daughter has to go to school and my wife has died... I see I'm the only legal adult here."

He turned, his red eyes looking up at the adult with curiosity. "And?"

"I feel like I have to be responsible for these kids... Like I'm the only mature one here to keep them in line... it's why I didn't let you tend the fire, Dreepamon. I'm not used to having help so close to me."

"Ah, well golly... I'm sorry for that... but it's different now."

"I don't know..."

 _Pop!_

A large fish popped out of the water, landing on the shore of the lake. It had a hook of wood in its mouth and a broken pole attacked to it. They both lurched back, shocked by this. Dreepamon made a heart with his hands, preparing an attack. Bubbles began to rise in the water.

 _Splash!_

A woman came out of the water. She looked like she was in her mid 20's. Her skin was a dark, dark brown and her hair was a vivid, neon blue. Next to her, a blob-like Digimon popped up. Its body was translucent, but it had a derpy smile like it was happy to be there.

"Howdy!"

"Isn't it a grand evening?"

Grillby put the hands of his partner down, locking eyes with the woman. Her hazel eyes were ablaze with a flame of adventure. His heart began to race and his breathing picked up.

She was lovely.

"Uh..."

"Name's Beatrix. This here is Puddlemon."

"Hello!" She giggled, twirling around in the pond.

"Puddlemon here found your broken pole and the fish and we decided to bring it back. Hope we didn't startle you!"

Grillby slowly nodded, trying to carefully choose his words. "Thank you... M-my name's Grillby and this is... D-dreepamon."

She laughed at his awkwardness. It was nowhere near lady-like, but it made the man's heart flutter.

"Nice to meet you! I'm always glad to help new players!"

Footsteps began to sound, followed by light bouncing.

"Heya, Grillbz! Heya, Dreepamon! Took us like, forever to find dry wood."

"And Cattymon was like, chasing a Bladeratmon, so it was like, longer."

"Hey!"

Beatrix rested her arms on the shoreline, looking at the arriving partners. "So, they on your team? Glad to see another responsible person here."

His face grew red as she spoke, looking over to the dark-skinned teenager. "Oh, of course."

Puddlemon turned away, looking for the sun in the sky. "Beatrix! It's getting late! We should be getting back to the base before Tachimons come out."

"Oh, you're right! Sorry, hun. Gotta go. Hope you enjoy the fish!"

As she was about to turn to swim off, but Grillby didn't want to see her go yet. He wanted to stay with her. "Wait, Beatrix!" She looked back, curiously smiling. "My base... is really far away. We won't be able to make it by nightfall. Do you mind if we stay with you tonight?"

The three others looked at him in shock, but Bratty smiled, as if she knew what has happening.

"Sure! It's always great to have a friendly face staying for a while. We're on the other side of the lake, so just follow the coast and you'd be there!"

As they swam away, Bratty tapped Grillby on the shoulder, causing his to turn.

"You're totally into her!"

"What?! How did you know?!"

"I've been to your restaurant, Grillbz. I know you aren't like, the best poker-face at the table."

"Oh, boy! This is gonna be great! C'mon! I don't wanna, like, be caught by wild Digimon!"

Cattymon and Dreepamon took the lead, leaving Grillby to pick up the fish and Bratty to put the fire out.

"You know, be yourself."

"Why do you say that?"

"I know her type. Honest, hard-working girls love honesty. You're, like, the most honest guy anyone knows. Just be yourself. She's gonna love you."

He gave a dry laugh in response, as if he didn't believe her.

...

"That's the guy from the lake! Howdy!"

The garden of this base was far larger than their own and Valhalla Warriors' combined. It was currently being cared for by a man and his slimelike Digimon. The man himself had a little hair on his head and a green shirt. The Digimon was a golden color with qualities of a bee and a honeycomb pattern on its head.

"Ogden, Honeymon, this is Grillby, Dreepamon, and his friends! They're gonna stay for the night."

The man smiled at the newcomers. "Wow, Beatrix. You really did find others. They even got the Tag things like us."

Bratty perked up at that. "Like us? You guys have Tags?"

Beatrix gave a slight smile, pulling the Tag from her jumpsuit. A golden yellow image was inside it. It was half a sun and half a moon. "Crest of Adventure. I'm the adventurous type. Ogden got the Crest of Simplicity due to his love for the little things like farming."

Ogden pulled his Tag out, smiling as she spoke about the Crest in it. "Yeah! Minty-flavored Crest! I manage the farm here and Honeymon loves to help out!"

Bratty looked to her empty Tag. "So your Digimon can go past Champion?"

"Of course, but we never had the chance to fight yet. We're a bit secluded. C'mon! The others must be inside!"

...

The base looked just like theirs outside, but the inside was very different. It looked more like a barn than an actual base. There were a few potted herbs in their kitchen area and there were beds of hay to sleep in.

"Hey, what's cookin', good lookin'?"

They turned to see a teenage girl holding a catlike slime Digimon. Her hair was short and black with streaks of pink and blue. She wore a simple black jacket and jeans. Her partner was gray, but she seems to have given it the same treatment as her hair.

"Who's the newbies?"

"They're from another troop. They need somewhere to sleep tonight and their base is too far."

"Well, don't let me stop you. Just make sure they don't touch anything."

Beatrix laughed before turning to her guests. "Mochi and Tabbymon are a bit hard to work with, but they really care a lot. She has the Crest of Pride for her belief in herself and her team." She motioned to the notice board which was full of notifications. "Viktor and Thora must be in the Forge along with Radiancemon and Pinkballmon."

"Do they have their Crests?" Bratty asked curiously.

"Of course! Viktor has the Crest of Ingenuity. He and Radiancemon have really helped our group grow with their insane ideas. Thora used to work for the developers of this game and she has the Crest of Origins for her service. Pinkballmon is also the sweetest guy."

They way she spoke so well of the team... Grillby didn't hear any of it. He was too into how she was moving and the motion of her lips. Bratty noticed his gaze and nudged him slightly to break his trance.

"Well, we got some extra hay in storage in case someone popped in! We kinda all sleep together and it might be a bit awkward with four more guests, so I can get the extra-"

"If it's fine with them, we can sleep with you guys."

Beatrix blinked in shock at his sudden response. She looked to Mochi, who was shaking her head.

"I'm barely able to handle four other people and Digimon. Not gonna go further than that."

Beatrix laughed at her response. "Sorry, Grillby. As much as I want to, I'm sure the others will side with Mochi here. I'll get the extra hay." As she walked off, Bratty looked at him with a smug look.

"Smooth."

"Shut up."

...

"I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just confused about how we ALL get the 'Chosen One' spiel."

"Immersion, Beatrix. We wanted the player to feel special, so that's why we use this plot device."

Grillby simply sat back, watching Thora telling Beatrix a couple of 'developer's secrets' of their world. Dreepamon was alert in his lap, looking over at the same group.

"This lake is programmed for high food yield, but a strong Digimon rests under the waves. You saw that cavern with Puddlemon, right?"

The man perked up, looking over at the woman.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Well, despite a few Betamon or Koimon, Hydromon lives there. He's shy, and since we're a stronger troop and not being rude, he refuses to bother us. We made it so anyone who can get him on their side would have advantages in water raids."

He looked to the window, staring at the lake that sat near their base.

"I remember him... we were going in as a raid. We were never able to defeat him and he always ran away..."

"Oh?"

His musings grabbed the attention of the two women.

"What made you think he was a Raid boss?" Beatrix asked quizzically.

"Well, he needed a key to get into his chamber..."

"Oh, it's because he was meant to be a Raid boss. We removed him, but the key remained. People often wondered why he ran."

Dreepamon looked up at his partner, a look of concern in his eyes. "I know what you're thinking, Grillby. You're a friendly guy, but you shouldn't do it."

"Oh, drowning is not an issue, Dreepamon, son. We never implemented that."

Grillby clapped his hands, smiling enthusiastically. "That's it! I will go after Hydromon and convince him to protect this troop!"

Dreepamon sighed, rubbing his forehead.

...

"Grillby, you don't have to do this!"

The bright-haired male looked back at his Digimon. "Why not? This could be enough to win Beatrix!"

"But you're going to get killed! Betamon and Koimon hide at night because Anglermon come out! They're beasts that use light to hypnotize their prey!"

He simply laughed. "It's a grown-up thing. You won't understand, Dreepamon."

He scowled, his eyes showing deep concern. "I know you. You help others because you want to see them safe. Not to win a girl. I fight to keep others alive and never to win a female. You're not being yourself."

"Well, if you really feel that way..."

He smiled, and leaned backwards, letting himself fall into the lake.

"Oh golly..."

Under the surface, he turned and began to swim downwards. It was odd. It felt like water around him, but every breath in was air. This must be what Thora meant by 'drowning was never implemented'. He stopped swimming to look upwards. The surface looked crystal clear and he can see Dreepamon looking in with concern. He simply waved to him, smiling widely. He then looked down, seeing the red flicker of torch light.

Another light.

Yellow. It was far brighter than the torch.

He tried his best to look away, but he felt drawn to it. Almost stupidly...

He couldn't help turning and swimming towards it.

...

"No! Stop! Turn away!"

Puddlemon popped from the canal leading to the house and landed in the lake.

"What's wrong?! I heard yelling!"

"Grillby! He went looking for Hydromon to impress Beatrix and an Anglermon hypnotized him!"

The door burst open and Beatrix ran out, her face showing panic.

"Beatrix!" Puddlemon yelled, "Mister Grillby was trying to impress you by finding Hydromon and he's hypnotized by an Anglermon!"

"What?! Idiot! We gotta go! Digivolve, Puddlemon!" Her chest lit up with a golden sun and moon image, making the puddle Digimon light up.

"Puddlemon, Digivolve to... Nilemon!"

A large fish-like Digimon came out of the light. Her body was made of thick liquid with bubbles of air inside. White pearls made the eyes of the fish monster.

"I didn't want this to happen. Anglermon always are an issue here and I didn't want him to get hurt." She jumped up, allowing Nilemon to swallow her. She quickly reemerged in an air bubble in her stomach. "C'mon! He's your partner!"

Dreepamon looked to Nilemon with the same concern. He took a deep breath and jumped, allowing Nilemon to catch him and swallow. He began to breath when the feeling of air surrounded him.

"Not bad. Could add a little spin into it."

"Beatrix! Let's go!"

There was no experience for the goat Digimon like this. The water moved quickly around the Champion Digimon as she swam, quickly making it beside Grillby.

"Grillbz! What are you doing?!"

He was obviously panicked. His eyes didn't move, but he was talking.

"I'm sorry! Please help!"

Beatrix didn't look too pleased. "And risk this again?"

"Beatrix, please!"

Dreepamon leaned forward in his bubble. "Grillby! Tell her the truth! Tell her why you did this!"

In the murky deeps, a large fish monster appeared. Its jaw took most of its face with rows of teeth bared.

"Who am I kidding? The Royale hasn't officially begun. Nilemon!"

"Current Binds!" The liquid fish's mouth opened, firing a strip of air around the Anglermon. The light flickered, but returned even stronger.

"Why are we not affected?" Dreepamon asked with panic in his voice.

"Nilemon has no eyes. Her pearls offer a different sense. Her body reflects Hypnosis and other Status effects."

"Oh..."

"Beatrix!" Nilemon screamed, "It's not holding!"

The Anglermon broke from its binds. It turned, keeping the light bright as he charged at the fish vessel. Its mouth opened, biting down on them. Beatrix began to scream in fear and Dreepamon looked at his hypnotized partner.

"Grillby!"

"Dreepamon! Beatrix! Nilemon! It's my fault!"

The Anglermon continued to bite down, creating a sort of vice grip.

"I wanted to impress Beatrix! It's immature and I admit it, but I forgot who I was!"

A shadow began to emit from Dreepamon. It was warm. Welcoming.

It began to smother the light.

"I just wanted to impress Beatrix because she reminded me of my wife! Because I fell for her!"

The darkness grew.

"But now the ones I love are in trouble and I can't help!"

The shadows cut deeper.

 _"I'M SORRY FOR FORGETTING!"_

The darkness burst forward, enveloping the lake's bottom.

"Dreepamon, Digivolve to..." He began to grow, his height ending up a foot higher than the humans. Shoulder covers grew out and the cape became more long and regal. A beard appeared on his jawline and a trident appeared in the hands of the new Champion.

Nilemon had to spit out the new Digimon as she shadows began to fade.

"...Goromon!"

His trident swung at Anglermon, knocking the light and disabling it.

"Dreepamon...?"

"Your integrity, Grillby. Your truth to yourself created me, Goromon. Any distraction, any lure to destroy you will be defeated with a single Breakheart Swing from my mighty trident!"

Anglermon turned back to them, the light returning.

"But first... Integrity Shield!" He quickly spun his trident, creating a translucent bubble around the two. It was blocking the light. "This shall be the shield from taking you once more. Now..." He raised his weapon once more, the darkness forming around the weapon. "Breakheart Swing!" He lunged forward, bursting the bubble. He swung his trident, striking the bulb of the Digimon, then aimed again to knock the creature out.

The depths grew darker. The only available light was that on the torchlight Grillby saw. The silhouette of Goromon shrank back to the size of Dreepamon. He slowly began to sink, forcing Grillby to swim over to him and grab ahold of his partner. Nilemon went in to catch them, but something swam upwards, grabbing onto the two.

"Woah... Nilemon, follow!"

...

The two came out like they were never in the water. Grillby felt the land below him and a sleepy Dreepamon on his body. His eyes opened, looking to the lake. Before it was a large, dinosaur-like Digimon. It was a light blue with red fins on its body... like the old 'Loch Ness Monster' stories he heard. Behind it, Beatrix and Nilemon appeared. Beatrix was spat out and Nilemon returned her form to Puddlemon.

"Sir Grillby and the Noble Dreepamon..." the large Digimon said in a low voice, "You both have shown dedication and integrity in saving each other and defeating Anglermon. I, Hydromon, am in your debt. What do you wish for me to do?"

Dreepamon opened his eyes and turned, looking up at Hydromon. "He's... not fighting us?"

Beatrix walked over to them, her eyes locked on the beast. Puddlemon was swimming around him happily.

Grillby looked to the woman, the Digimon, and then his partner. He sat up, giving Dreepamon the chance to stand. The duo stood up and bowed before the mighty dinosaur.

"Oh, Great Hydromon. Please protect this troop's territory and all who inhabit it, for they wish to bring what is right to the digital world."

The being bowed his head, closing his eyes. "As you wish."

...

"You know, if you were in love, you coulda told me, silly! You didn't have to get a protector for it!"

Grillby chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry. I totally forgot who I was. I should have told you directly..."

Beatrix chuckled, stepping forward and pecking the man on the cheek. His face turned a bright red, making her chuckle more.

"Well, I appreciate the gesture. Honestly, I thought it was cute that you were all embarrassed to confess."

"Uh... I..."

"Hahaha! C'mon. I can make a special treat for you and Dreepamon. She turned and walked into the house, leaving him alone outside.

"Grillby?"

He looked down, seeing Dreepamon looking up.

"I'm especially sorry for you. I made you worry so much today."

He smiled slightly. "It's fine. You said you were not used to this kind of help, after all."


	6. Chapter 6

"Kid!"

The boy's head turned, seeing Temmiemon standing in the entrance of the Armory. Attached to a few ropes was a small cart with something made of metal in it.

"Temmiemon!"

"Temmiemon finished work! It's reaaally good, ya ya! Temmiemon wants to see Kid try it!" She picked up the ropes with her mouth and pulled the cart in. She stopped it right next to her partner and tipped it over, letting a mechsuit of sorts come out. "New Leg design is in development, but wiring and basic structure work!"

"Really? That's so cool!"

The door of the base open and Alphys was walking in. Mermaidmon came up in the canal running to the river.

"Temmiemon? Did you make those?"

"Ya ya! They will help Kid walk in forest and places!"

Her eyes widened at this comment. "Temmiemon, if this works, you two will be on the forefront of human scientific development. Helping a child whose legs don't work could help veterans and those with disabilities... it could be huge!"

"Cans Alphys and Mermaidmon help Temmiemon put friend in?"

The two laughed, but helped the Digimon set the mech upright. Of course, Mermaidmon had to help from the back, firing spears as supports. Alphys and set Kid in and Temmiemon began to put little electrode pads on his body.

"These will pick up electric signals and make legs move on command! From the chatsies Temmiemon heard over year, Kid lost legs in accident. The signals could still goes there with no response so these wills "

"You know, Kid, it's risky to test something like this."

The boy smiled. "I know, but someone has to be brave! We're not going anywhere if we cower!"

"Okays! Try to makes a step!"

The boy shown no doubt in the skill of his friend. He took a deep breath... and the left leg lifted. His eyes lit up, happily seeing what basically was his wheelchair making him move his legs.

"Oh my gosh!"

"This is so awesome! I can walk again!"

"See? Temmiemon is really smart! Temmiemon did good!"

Alphys waved her hands. "Now, careful. You haven't walked in a while. You shouldn't be running around fo-"

The boy was already holding onto his Digimon partner, thanking her in as many ways as he can.

"Wow. These guys really care about each other."

Alphys walked to the canal opening and sat next to her Digimon. "Yeah."

"Kid's really brave, you know. And Temmiemon is intelligent. Those two could be awesome together!"

"Their dynamic works well with our group."

"What? Are you worried about THAT happening again?"

The blonde girl sighed, hanging her head. "I haven't told anyone."

"You can't keep this to yourself, Al. And writing a Fate/Stay Night fiction about that concept doesn't count."

She made a sarcastic snap. "Damn."

...

"Wow. Looks like you two took a STEP in the right direction."

Kid was too happy to groan at Sans's pun this time.

"Ain't it cool? Temmiemon made these! She's awesome! I can go on adventures with the group now!"

Temmiemon's cheek grew red, flattered by his comment. "It nothing, Kid. Anything to help partner."

Sans smiled at the duo. "Well, maybe this could be our first test. Since Dreemamon Digivolved, Papymon really wanted to do it too. The guy ran off. I just lost sight of him. You two think you can help?"

"Totally! This could be the test run for this thing!"

"Temmiemon wanna help!"

...

"Even when he was behind that screen, he never let me Digivolve. I'll show him! The great Papymon will not be deterred!"

The small skeleton Digimon was weaving through bushes and trees, looking for anything to help him train.

"Do I need to find something? Prove my worth? Whatever it is, I'll do it!"

He continued to shove through the wildlife, causing him to fall into an open field. He stopped, his sockets trying to adjust to the influx of light. Lovely openings like this were not really counted as 'safe', but nothing of harm seemed to be sitting around the area besides a few berry bushes. He plopped down, grumbling to himself.

...

A Heimdalmon walked down a spiral staircase, accompanied by a Castermon. The room they were entering was dark, save for a large screen with a green, pixelated face on it.

"Castermon..."

The cloaked Digimon stepped forward. "We have spotted five teams wandering the land. They tend to stay with their allies."

"Good, good. Begin the Divide."

"Yes, madam."

...

A heavy rumbling began to shake the ground below the new rescue group.

"Whoa! Is the calibration off?"

"No, Kid. I think the Earth got scared."

"Temmiemon has baaaaad feeling it Divide..."

Kid looked over to his Digimon. "Divide? What's that?"

"Temmiemon not sure! Land splits apart and divide?" She ran forward, her nose twitching. "Field ahead. Many Butterberries... And one-"

A large jolt threw the two humans off balance, causing them to fall over. Temmiemon stood strong in her spot, but her eyes widened.

"Papymon is over in field! Field splitting!"

Kid pushed himself upright, his eyes burning with a new light. "Then he must be in trouble!" He leaned over to help Sans back up, who was now showing a bit of panic. "C'mon!"

Kid took the lead, pushing past Temmiemon in order to reach this field. He closed his eyes as he broke into the sunlight, but as they opened, he saw a large canyon forming.

"Oh no! It's Divide!"

Sans and Temmiemon caught up. The Digimon was sniffing the air with Sans looking around frantically.

"Papy! Papy! Where are you?!"

"Sans!"

They looked across the dividing land, where the skeleton Digimon was waving in a panic.

"Help me!"

"Don't worry! We're coming! Just wait as we come up with plan!"

"WAIT?!"

Kid looked to his partner, then to the Digimon who was drifting away.

"Okays... Temmiemon can use vines and-"

Kid began to run. Fast. Towards the Divide. Temmiemon turned, a strength building inside her body.

"Kid, what are you doing?!"

He stopped and looked back at Sans. "Sorry, I know you're scared, but we have no time!" He began to run again, jumping as he met the edge of the land.

 _"SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO BE BRAVE!"_

Air began to race around Temmiemon as he jumped, mixing with the earth and light around them.

"Temmiemon, Digivolve to..."

Large fangs grew from the jaw of the creature and her paws began to change into snake tails and goat hooves. Two eagle wings sprouted from her back.

"... Chimmon!"

Before the light can fade, the new Digimon shot out, the tails that made her hind legs grabbing onto the jumping Kid.

"Whoa! What happened?!"

"You have to be more careful! You're lucky your bravery helped me Digivolve!" The head of the Digimon looked down, a smile on her face. "I'm Chimmon, by the way! The Digimon who can create in the face of danger!"

She flew to the side of the Divide where Sans stood, placing her partner down.

"But Papymon!"

"Worry not! I can get him!"

"The Divide is too big! We'll never make it across in time!"

"Would you like to bet on that?" Chimmon took flight once more. Her snake tails began to glow and stretch. "Serpentine Snatch!" The snake legs shot forward, towards the panicking Rookie, grabbing him tightly. "Hang on!"

"Hang on?"

She began to circle in the air slowly, moving her hind legs like a swing. Papymon was lifted off the ground and saw the lands below him drifting apart... but he was being swung closer and closer...

"Papymon!"

The tails let go, letting the skeleton fly towards the arms of his waiting partner. Sans gripped tightly to him, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Ya bonehead. Don't scare me like that!"

Papymon looked up as his partner, who was crying...

"I'm sorry... I just wanted to get stronger..."

"Listen, you have to wait for some things like that. Not everything can be rushed..."

Chimmon slowly descended before her partner, her body glowing as she returned to her Rookie form. She landed in front of Kid, smiling proudly. "Did Temmiemon do good?"

"You were awesome, Temmiemon! I am so glad I was partnered with you!" He picked her up and held her close, laughing happily.

...

"No!"

The forest path cut off at a drop into the ocean. Grillby groaned, looking over at Beatrix and Bratty with their partners.

"We walked this way yesterday!"

"Bea!"

They turned, seeing another girl flying over this divide. She was riding a glowing firefly Digimon and waving.

"Oh, hey! That's Ayala! She's the newest member here."

As they got over land, the Digimon returned to a ball-like form and the girl came off. She had tan skin and dark brown hair and, as expected, a Tag and Crest. Her Digimon was a happy ball like the others in her group, but had antenna and wings.

"The land began to split as I was coming back! I think the Divide happened!"

"Divide?" Bratty asked, "What's the Divide?"

Beatrix looked to Grillby, mouthing 'we have to go back'.


	7. Chapter 7

"Nappy?"

Alphys poked her head around the Butterberry bushes. Mermaidmon was in the canal running through the garden.

"He usually wanders off with Hapstamon, Al. I doubt he's gonna be around here. Remember how he said he thinks he's a burden on the chat?"

"I know but I'm worried. That Earthquake earlier must have been the Divide."

"Oh yeah." She nodded slightly, before looking back at her. "Didn't you say that was scrapped?"

"No, I said the code was unused. The ringleader here must be using it to divide teams."

Footsteps sounded in the brush around their home, causing them to turn and see Napstablook and his partner Digimon. The boy had a scarf tied around his face, as if he was blocking out the sun from his pale skin. Alphys's eyes went wide and she ran to him.

"Nappy! Don't scare us like that! We were worried sick!"

He averted his gaze, shivering slightly. "I thought... I could find a way home..." His red eyes began to fill with tears and he sniffled as he began crying. "I want to go home... My parents wanted me. My cousin misses me. I don't know anyone here and... and..."

She knelt down in front of him, putting his arms around him in attempts to comfort him. "Nappy. I know how you feel. We all want to go home. We are all looking for a way back. We just have to keep our heads up."

Hapstamon put his arms around the two, humming happily. "Now, now, dears. We don't need to rush. We Digimon kind of want to get to know our dearest partners!"

 _Ring! Ring!_

A small bell appeared over Alphy's head, causing her to look up.

"What's that?"

"I don't know." She reached up and tapped it. The bell began to expand, making a floating projection of a white-haired man with an eyepatch.

 _"Alphys. I am aware of your work debugging the game and I thank you for your service. I am Odin, leader of Valhalla Warriors. With the Divide that occurred, we need to reconnect with another troop. They call themselves 'Slimeballs'. We lost communication with them a while ago and Sigurd said he saw two of your friends head that way. We can assume that they are safe with them, but we need to reunite. We're likely going to need to build a bridge to connect our lands like many players should be doing. Bring Mermaidmon and another human with their partner. Our troop will pay for your services. Ymirmon and I will be waiting near Live Stream."_

The images phased out of existence. Alphys's eyes met with Mermaidmon's.

"Sounds like a plan, if you ask me!"

"But why would he need another human and Digimon? Ymirmon's line only goes to Atlasmon and he can make a land bridge easily. You aren't known for building..."

"Oh..."

She looks over to Napstablook and smiles. "Nappy. Hapstamon. Wanna tag along?"

Hapstamon put his arms around Napstablook, nodding happily. "We should, Nappy! It could only help us!"

...

"Odin?"

"Yes, Ymirmon?"

The Digimon looked up to him, eyes full of concern. "I don't know if I should do this... So may people can take advantage."

"I thought of it, Ymirmon." His eyes went to the large gap between them. The ground gave way to a sheer drop into a void of ones and zeroes. "That's why I asked Alphys. She worked as a debugger, so had to look into coding the game. Thora, she was a developer as well. These two will be an asset for hiding our secret."

Ymirmon looked into the abyss.

"Just to think... every Digimon... every plant... every rock... came from this void... and if one were as unfortunate as to take a wrong step... it can also take away..." Odin gave a dry laugh. "A primordial sea of ones and zeroes which can lead to desolate death. Lovely, yet horrid."

"You creep me out when you do that."

"I apologize."

...

"Oh, come on, Nappy dear. I'm sure this is going to be beneficial for us all."

"But... I don't know... what if I'm just being dragged along again...?"

"Everyone already said they care about you."

"Because we're stuck in it together. They can do better without me."

Hapstamon frowned at his pessimism. "You're not helping yourself, Nappy. You're going to need to believe in yourself."

"Are you guys gonna sit back there and mope or come up and join the group? We're almost at Live Stream's end!"

The two turned to see Mermaidmon looking back at them. She looked impatient, waiting to get back into their mission.

"Sorry," Napstablook said, quickly bowing in hopes she won't get mad.

"Don't worry, darling. We'll be there shortly. I just need to comfort my friend."

"Whatever, you nerds. I'll tell her."

...

"We're here!"

Mermaidmon found herself trying to stop herself in the stream, as it was now pouring into a void. Alphys picked her up out of it and carried her in her arms.

Odin gave a slight smile. "I thank you for coming, but I must ask, where are the rest of the team i requested you to bring along?"

"Oh," Mermaidmon began, "They're lagging behind because one's a coward."

"Mermaidmon!"

She gave a laugh in response. Odin turned to the void again, staring into the distance. A landmass was in the distance, which must have been part of the continent. "Can you have her Digivolve?"

"Of course, but I don't want anyone else to know."

"Good, because her spears could help us get across. I bet you know about Atlasmon."

"Ymirmon's next form?"

"Yes. It was said Atlasmon pulled the land together. If we can get Undinemon to spear that landmass..."

"We can attach a rope or something to pull the land together!"

Odin's face shown another smile. "You really ARE a good partner, are you?"

"I'm as good as I want to be."

...

"Help! Help!"

Hapstamon stopped, hearing a cry for help from somewhere. Napstablook looked at him before hearing the cries.

"You hear that, dear?"

"Of course, but..." He turned to the direction he thought the sound was coming from. "That way." He began to run away from the stream, towards the noise.

"Nappy! Wait!" Hapstamon began to follow, knowing he was leaving the group for this.

...

They found themselves leaving the forest to find a young lady looking over the edge of the land. Her hair was a stark white and she wore a blue dress.

"Ma'am, what's wrong?"

She lifted her head and turned to them. Her hair covered her eyes, but without seeing them, she looked distressed.

"Thank the stars," she said in a low voice, "I need help!" She turned back over the edge, reaching her hand down. "Don't worry, Rubimon! Help's on the way!"

The kid and his partner ran to the edge, looking over. A small Digimon, about the size of Hapstamon, was hanging onto a stone outcropping, hanging over the void. Her head was cubelike and her hair was held together by a headband.

"She's barely out of my reach!" the lady said in a scared voice, "We were fighting these Digimon and she was injured. She can't pull herself up! If she falls in, she's gone!"

Nappy looked to Hapstamon and they both nodded. Hapstamon hovered over the edge. As his body left the land, he felt a wind pushing downward. He carefully followed it, resisting the breeze enough to descend slowly. He stopped next to the Rubimon, who looked over at him in shock.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm saving your life, darling."

He put his ghostly arms around the Digimon and began to fight the suction of air back up. Napstablook applauded his partner's actions as he put her back down next to her partner.

"Rubimon!"

"Sophie!"

The lady, Sophie, quickly grabbed onto her Digimon and held her close. As she held her, the two saw Rubimon's back. It had a gash in it and it was leaking a black fluid lined with ones and zeroes.

"Uh, miss Sophie...?" She looked up upon hearing her name. Nappy stepped forward. "I can help her. She's hurt."

With caution, she handed the Digimon to the boy. He slowly undid his scarf and began to wrap it around the Digimon's middle. She didn't fight the boy and took it well.

"But Nappy, dear, don't you need that to protect yourself from the sun?"

Usually, he's right. The sun would make him burn easily and it usually would sting by now. He looked upwards, blinking. "I don't think the Digital sun works the same way..."

He tied off the scarf and let the Rubimon go. She returned to Sophie's side, quickly hugging her partner.

"Oh, thank you so much... Mister..."

"Napstablook and Hapstamon... uh... Underground Fighters..."

Sophie's mouth turned to one of shock. "Underground Fighters?"

He shrunk back at her response. "I'm sorry if that's the wrong answer! I-"

"Your troop attacked our ally! Why did you stop to help us? You could have ended us before the Royale begins!"

He looked to Hapstamon, then shivered, thinking of an answer.

"No one deserves to fall into a void. No one deserves to have their partner taken from them. Everyone deserves a bit of kindness, even if they are against us."

Sophie's mouth formed a little smile in response. "That must be a good idea to live by."

 _WOOSH!_

A glowing sword fired between the two groups. The both turned to see two people emerging from the woods, each next to a Digimon of their own.

"Oh, lookie here, Shirou! It's the girl from earlier!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you go after what you did to Babylon's Gate! Let's get 'em, Rin!"

The girl, Rin, was in a red shirt with two pigtails on her head. Shirou, the boy, had bright red hair and a jacket with black sleeves. Their Digimon were standing beside them. Rin's Digimon looked like a man in a red suit with twin blades in his hands and a black-and-white mask on his face. Shirou's looked like an armored maiden with a golden sword and a silver mask.

Sophie reached into her bag and pulled out some Cinna Leaves. She handed them to Rubimon, whose eyes widened in joy.

"Thanks!"

She quickly began to chew them.

"What do those do?"

"Cinna Leaves help raise energy for Digivolution. In Beach Gems, we repay any kindness shown to us." Her hands formed a triangle on her chest and the space in it began to light up. "Digivolve, Rubimon!"

Rubimon jumped ahead of her human partner, lighting up in a purple light. "Rubimon, Digivolve to... Garnetmon!" The Digimon turned into a taller woman with thick hips and box-like hair. A visor covered her eyes and heavy gauntlets rested on her fists. The scarf was still tied around her small waist. She was hopping in place like a kickboxer.

Nappy's eyes widened. "Giant woman!"

"We can handle these two. Go get your troop." She shot her hand forward. "Let's go!"

Garnetmon's gauntlets lit up with bright, blue electricity. She began to run at the two Digimon, raising her fists up. "Electric Fists!"

The feminine humanoid Digimon raised her blade in a defensive position, taking the brunt of Garnetmon's attack.

"Don't give in, Sabermon! Use your Invisible Air!"

"Help her out, Bladeworkmon!"

Bladeworkmon, the masculine Digimon, raised his blades and screamed. "Ballad of Delusions!"

Sophie gasped. "Ballad of Delusions?!"

Air whipped up around Garnetmon. She was whipped off her feet. She began to scream in shock, then went into paranoid babble.

"Sophie! We can help!"

She turned. "I'm sorry, but this is the rule breaker! Ballad of Delusions means Garnetmon fights for Bladeworkmon!"

"Well, kindness is consideration," Nappy said in an uncharacteristically loud voice.

Hapstamon felt tingly. like electricity running through his form.

 _"AND IT IS NOT KIND TO LET ANYONE FALL ALONE!"_

Thunder crashed overhead and a bolt fired down, striking the ghostly Digimon.

"Hapstamon, Digivolve to..." The phantom form began to gain mass. A lot of mass. Metal plating tightened around his arms and white gloves topped the springs of his limbs. His body was forced into a metal box with antenna sprouting from the top. A pink screen displayed a face and it all balanced on a hot pink wheel. "...Mettamon!"

The metal box suddenly dashed ahead into the twister of lies and delusion. Floating in the middle was Garnetmon. She turned to look at him, her visor not hiding the anger and rage the ballad induced.

"Darling, I know enough about song to know that I can break you out before this one ends!"

Napstablook ran to Sophie's side. "What happened?"

"Hapstamon... it's Mettamon! I should have seen it coming. He's optimal for this situation as he can cancel and Song move and can tank hits! And since Garnetmon and Mettamon can harness electricity, he could be a great ally..."

The twister burst, pushing everyone back. Where it once stood, Mettamon stood holding the fighter Digimon.

"You know," Garnetmon said with a chuckle, "You need to stop saving me like this."

"Darling, I stop when the fat lady sings. Now, let's take these two." He set her down and she quickly got back into her kickboxing pose.

Bladeworkmon was obviously displeased. "Let us try again. Ballad of Delusions!" He began to screech and wind began to kick up, forming a twister.

"Ah-ah-aaah! Not on my watch!" Mettamon spun once and posed, before a high-paced tune rose from his robotic form. "Ode to Thunder!" Another twister shot up, colliding with Bladworkmon's Ballad before vanishing.

"A worthy adversary, Sabermon. Looks like we need to hike it up a bit." His twin blade left his hands, piercing the ground before him. "By the power of the Origins, I change the field!"

The humans exchanged looks. "What?"

Sophie was shivering. "The Blade Works! Bladeworkmon was said to be forged here and can bring other Digimon in to fight! We can't interfere anymore..."

...

Gears churned overhead. Blades were sticking from the ground. Heavy smoke filled the air. The only beings here were Garnetmon, Mettamon, Sabermon, and Bladeworkmon.

"You are in my turf now, heathens. Now, drown in your ideals and die! Blade Bow!" The blades returned to his hand and met at their hilts, forming a bow. Air formed an arrow of sorts and he pulled back and aimed.

Garnetmon fell silent before whispering to her battle partner. "This smoke can help us. Sophie told me that volcanoes have thunderstorms because of the smoke making static electricity. It also seems to be an obscuring screen."

"And we can use it to channel electricity and hide!"

"Bladeworkmon just seal his team's fate."

"We can stay all night with this, can we?"

"Break."

The air arrow flew from the bow, flying to the duo.

"Break!"

The two jumped aside, causing the arrow to miss entirely.

"Bloody hell. Can't send a Bladeworkmon to do a Sabermon's job."

"Hey, the never dodge my attack!"

"And Lancermon's Bolg Spear never misses." She raised her blade, which now coursed with blue air. "King's Wind!" Air shot across the ground, pushing the smoke skywards. With the ground clear, they can see... "Nothing?!"

"Where did they go?"

"Yoo-hoo~"

They turned around, seeing Mettamon behind them.

"Ode to Thunder!"

Instead of forming a twister, the song made the smoke crackle and hiss.

"Not attacking?" Sabermon asked, "Well, take this!" Her sword glowed a golden light and she raised it over her head. "EXCALIBUUUUR!" She shot the light forward as she brought the blade down. It raced to Mettamon, kicking up dust on impact.

"Really, dear? Is that all you got?"

As the dust cleared, the two were shocked to see the box Digimon standing, completely unscathed.

"Ode to Thunder raises my defenses."

"But you're a new Champion!" Bladeworkmon yelled, "You can't be invincible!"

The screen shown a cheeky smile. "Because I didn't put Spark of Love into it. Oh, Garnetmoooon~"

The two looked up, both shocked to see an electrified fist falling downwards, accompanied by the red Digimon.

"ELECTRIC FISTS!"

...

"I'm worried. They're not out!"

Sophie looked very nervous. Her hands were holding onto each other and she was biting her lip. However, Napstablook looked different. Confident.

 _BANG!_

An explosion of light came from where the Digimon stood. It blinded the humans, but as their vision cleared, it was obvious who won.

Garnetmon and Mettamon tossed the bodies of two Rookie Digimon before their humans.

"Artorimon?"

"Emimon!"

Shirou and Rin looked to their partner Digimon before looking up at the two victors.

"This isn't over! You haven't seen the last of Babylon's Gate!"

The two ran with their Digimon in tow. The two Champions both glowed, reverting to their Rookie forms.

"Hapstamon!"

"Rubimon!"

The pink ghost turned, a smile appearing on his face. "Nappy!"

"Sophie!"

The two ran to each other and quickly embraced.

"What did you do? How did you do it?"

Rubimon smiled. "Smoke and Electricity, Sophie!"

Sophie smiled. "Just like I told you..."

"Hapstamon! You were amazing!"

"That's only because I reflect my friend, Nappy. Mettamon is only as great as their human."

...

"Nicely done," Odin said as the land was pulled to form a solid mass. "I knew Undinemon could handle this. I thank you. Your payment will be sent to the troop base."

"It was nothing, sir!" Alphys said, looking down at Mermaidmon. "It's just a spear. We're lucky we got out alive."

Footsteps sounded and the group turned. Lo and behold, Nappy and Hapstamon came from the forest brush accompanied by a white-haired girl with her Digimon, a humanoid, red cube girl.

"Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in something."

"Nappy!" Alphys said in surprise. "You look confident. What happened? Who's that?"

"Oh, she's Sophie from Beach Gems. We began an alliance between our troops. That allies up with Solar Cresents and Hetaworld Power."

Sophie nodded. "And Valhalla Warriors and Slimeballs. We can make it far into the Finals with a strong set of allies."

"You two have been busy," Odin commented, "We just reunited the land here. You can meet Slimeballs soon."

Sophie suddenly stood at attention. "Oh dear. I forgot! I need to back to Home Base. Steven must be worried sick when I sent a distress call and never responded! I'm sorry, but I will return! Thank you for helping, Nappy." She turned and ran back into the forest. Rubimon turned and smiled.

"Hapstamon. You were awesome. I would love to fight with you again!"

"Likewise, darling."

"Rubimon!"

She waved and ran after her human partner.

"Hey, guys!"

They looked across the landmass, seeing four more humans with their partners. Grillby, Dreepamon, Bratty, and Cattymon were all familiar, but there was an Afriacan-American female with blue hair with a watery blob Digimon and a Latina female with a glowing blob Digimon.

"Grillby! Bratty!"

"We are, like, so happy to see you guys!"

Odin paced across the land to stand before the blue-haired woman. "Beatrix."

"Odin! Thora is waiting!"


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: No, this is not a mistake! Read on to see the difference from Chapter 7.**

"Nappy?"

Alphys poked her head around the Butterberry bushes. Mermaidmon was in the canal running through the garden.

"He usually wanders off with Hapstamon, Al. I doubt he's gonna be around here. Remember how he said he thinks he's a burden on the chat?"

"I know but I'm worried. That Earthquake earlier must have been the Divide."

"Oh yeah." She nodded slightly, before looking back at her. "Didn't you say that was scrapped?"

"No, I said the code was unused. The ringleader here must be using it to divide teams."

Footsteps sounded in the brush around their home, causing them to turn and see Napstablook and his partner Digimon. The boy had a scarf tied around his face, as if he was blocking out the sun from his pale skin. Alphys's eyes went wide and she ran to him.

"Nappy! Don't scare us like that! We were worried sick!"

He averted his gaze, shivering slightly. "I thought... I could find a way home..." His red eyes began to fill with tears and he sniffled as he began crying. "I want to go home... My parents wanted me. My cousin misses me. I don't know anyone here and... and..."

She knelt down in front of him, putting his arms around him in attempts to comfort him. "Nappy. I know how you feel. We all want to go home. We are all looking for a way back. We just have to keep our heads up."

Hapstamon put his arms around the two, humming happily. "Now, now, dears. We don't need to rush. We Digimon kind of want to get to know our dearest partners!"

 _Ring! Ring!_

A small bell appeared over Alphy's head, causing her to look up.

"What's that?"

"I don't know." She reached up and tapped it. The bell began to expand, making a floating projection of a white-haired man with an eyepatch.

 _"Alphys. I am aware of your work debugging the game and I thank you for your service. I am Odin, leader of Valhalla Warriors. With the Divide that occurred, we need to reconnect with another troop. They call themselves 'Slimeballs'. We lost communication with them a while ago and Sigurd said he saw two of your friends head that way. We can assume that they are safe with them, but we need to reunite. We're likely going to need to build a bridge to connect our lands like many players should be doing. Bring Mermaidmon and another human with their partner. Our troop will pay for your services. Ymirmon and I will be waiting near Live Stream."_

The images phased out of existence. Alphys's eyes met with Mermaidmon's.

"Sounds like a plan, if you ask me!"

"But why would he need another human and Digimon? Ymirmon's line only goes to Atlasmon and he can make a land bridge easily. You aren't known for building..."

"Oh..."

She looks over to Napstablook and smiles. "Nappy. Hapstamon. Wanna tag along?"

Hapstamon put his arms around Napstablook, nodding happily. "We should, Nappy! It could only help us!"

...

"Odin?"

"Yes, Ymirmon?"

The Digimon looked up to him, eyes full of concern. "I don't know if I should do this... So may people can take advantage."

"I thought of it, Ymirmon." His eyes went to the large gap between them. The ground gave way to a sheer drop into a void of ones and zeroes. "That's why I asked Alphys. She worked as a debugger, so had to look into coding the game. Thora, she was a developer as well. These two will be an asset for hiding our secret."

Ymirmon looked into the abyss.

"Just to think... every Digimon... every plant... every rock... came from this void... and if one were as unfortunate as to take a wrong step... it can also take away..." Odin gave a dry laugh. "A primordial sea of ones and zeroes which can lead to desolate death. Lovely, yet horrid."

"You creep me out when you do that."

"I apologize."

...

"Oh, come on, Nappy dear. I'm sure this is going to be beneficial for us all."

"But... I don't know... what if I'm just being dragged along again...?"

"Everyone already said they care about you."

"Because we're stuck in it together. They can do better without me."

Hapstamon frowned at his pessimism. "You're not helping yourself, Nappy. You're going to need to believe in yourself."

"Are you guys gonna sit back there and mope or come up and join the group? We're almost at Live Stream's end!"

The two turned to see Mermaidmon looking back at them. She looked impatient, waiting to get back into their mission.

"Sorry," Napstablook said, quickly bowing in hopes she won't get mad.

"Don't worry, darling. We'll be there shortly. I just need to comfort my friend."

"Whatever, you nerds. I'll tell her."

...

"We're here!"

Mermaidmon found herself trying to stop herself in the stream, as it was now pouring into a void. Alphys picked her up out of it and carried her in her arms.

Odin gave a slight smile. "I thank you for coming, but I must ask, where are the rest of the team I requested you to bring along?"

"Oh," Mermaidmon began, "They're lagging behind because one's a coward."

"Mermaidmon!"

She gave a laugh in response. Odin turned to the void again, staring into the distance. A landmass was in the distance, which must have been part of the continent. "Can you have her Digivolve?"

"Of course, but I don't want anyone else to know."

"Good, because her spears could help us get across. I bet you know about Atlasmon."

"Ymirmon's next form?"

"Yes. It was said Atlasmon pulled the land together. If we can get Undinemon to spear that landmass..."

"We can attach a rope or something to pull the land together!"

Odin's face shown another smile. "You really ARE a good partner, are you?"

"I'm as good as I want to be." She shrugged.

"Alright, then let's get started."

The two stepped back, allowing their Digimon to step before them. Alphys made a heart with her hands over her chest and Odin put his hands at a right angle, moving one like a clock hand. Both shined a purple light.

"Ymirmon, Digiviolve to..." The Digimon seemed to grow in size, growing to be as tall as Odin. Black bands surrounded his wrists and knees. Below the knees, he was blue mist. Longer, blue hair covered more of the Digimon's head. "...Atlasmon!"

"Mermaidmon, Digivolve to..." Mermaidmon's hair grew longer, tying itself in a red ponytail. Her body grew longer and more muscular. Her black tank top grew to cover her growing chest and body, but leaving room for her gills to breathe. An eyepatch covered her scarred eye. "...Undinemon!"

The two Digimon turned, looking at the landmass. "That's pretty far," Undinemon commented.

"And hard to aim," Atlasmon added.

"What do you mean? I can throw spears any distance!"

"Not that. I don't doubt your spear-throwing powers. The void just has many properties depending on location. Here, we experience a downward draft, taking victims into the void itself. You could be optimal at throwing, but you can miss many times."

"So, that's why you wanted Alphys?"

Alphys stepped forward. "I can calculate the wind speed and angle you would need to work at."

"Alright! Who said algebra wasn't gonna help in real life?"

"You did, Undinemon."

She gave a chuckle. "Right."

...

"Crapcrapcrapcrap."

Fafnirmon took to the skies again, Sigurd in tow. Red, white, and blue stars flew past them.

"There was no way that they could've found us!"

"But they did, Fafnirmon! Maybe you shoulda hidden the loot you gathered."

"Hey, I doubt-"

"FREEDOM STARSHOWER!"

Fafnirmon swerved to dodge the attack.

"We need to tell Odin!"

"But he's on a mission."

"But he's the only one that can stop him!"

...

"Forty-five degrees would give the most distance, but with the wind, I would say fifty five is the best shot. The distance is about two hundred feet and this won't overshoot. Mister Odin, do you have ropes or vines?"

"Of course. I wouldn't come without it. They might be short, so you'll need to tie them."

"Nice. We can test the theory."

 _CRASH!_

The group turned to see Sigurd falling on the ground, holding Fafimon close. He looked like he was blasted by something hot.

"ODIN STEPHANSON!"

Odin gave no response as he looked up.

"Arthur Kirkland."

A large, harpy creature was flying overhead. Upon his back was a blonde man with bushy eyebrows.

"You are assisting a rookie troop! You should know the strongest survive here!"

Sigurd looked up at Odin, sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry... I was trying to warn you..."

"It is fine, my son. You did well. Return to Home Base and I will join you."

Sigurd nodded, reaching into his pocket to reveal a green pearl. He crushed it with his hands, making Fafimon and Sigurd vanish. Odin returned his glare to the man.

"I am only doing what is right, Arthur! You're the one who chose to be this way!"

"Attack!"

Unisonmon tucked his wings in and shot them open. "Freedom Starshower!"

Atlasmon dashed before his partner, his hand darting out. The stream beside them bubbled and shot upwards, diverting and splitting to make a highway of water.

"Get 'em, Undinemon!"

"Awesome!" She leapt into this water, swimming upwards, toward the harpy Digimon. She emerged with two beams of light in her hands, making tips like spears. "Spears of Power!" She tossed them, both whizzing by the opponent. The beams remained attached to her claws.

"Ha! Missed!" the cocky Unison cried.

"Did I?" She watched the spears cross each other's paths and pulled on the beams. They caught rider and Digimon and pulled them towards herself.

"Is that your plan? Make yourself an easy target? Get her!"

Unisonmon's mouth opened, firing beam of light into Undinemon's face. She was booted from her aquatic highway and onto the ground below. Dragged along were the aggressors.

"I got you!" Atlasmon waved his arms, making water surround the beached partner.

Odin and Alphys watched in horror. "They're evenly matched and Atlasmon doesn't have offensive moves! What can we do?"

"The Void."

"No... you're mad! If Undinemon falls in, I'm booted!"

"But we can boot Arthur and his partner."

"No one deserves that."

"Arthur... he's a lost cause. Thora sent me this in a message before we lost contact. I heard he was part of a large amount of missing players. He and his Digimon were corrupted in their memories and fights. Unisonmon is not Libermon's correct form."

"Chara's missing..." Alphys looked to the fight, seeing Undinemon shoved near the cliff's edge. Her spears were still holding Unisonmon in place. "Dark Digivolution..."

"Atlasmon, being born of the primordial sea, can't die in the Void."

"Of course... Undinemon! Tracer it!"

She looked at Alphys, a shocked look on her face. However, she smirked and nodded, giving a thumbs up to her partner. She used her body to push herself from the edge, dragging Unisonmon and Arthur with them.

"Idiot! You'll die with us!" Arthur screamed.

Undinemon smirked, feeling her form dedigivolving to Mermaidmon. "Punk, you're not even close."

As the spears vanished, a blur of blue flew by, grabbing onto the falling Rookie. It was Atlasmon, beginning an upward flight, unaffected by the wind pulling them down.

A burst of green ones and zeroes fired upwards as they rose from the Void.

"Mermaidmon!"

Atlasmon put her down on the other side of the ravine. They looked across to see Alphys waving manically and Odin staring back. Atlasmon nodded and made an 'x' in the dirt. Mermaidmon made a smaller spear and stabbed it in.

...

Nothing.

The ocean of ones and zeroes meant nothing.

The man was staring into the nothing, green eyes full of nothing.

"Arthur..."

He looked over at his partner. He was nothing more than a mere hatchling. A baby. Landimon. Nothing.

"Arthur... what happened?"

"I do not know... but whatever we did, we deserved this fate..."

"Arthur... I'm scared..."

"Don't be... As long as I have you... and you have me... We have nothing to fear..."

Landimon floated over, rubbing himself next to his partner.

"What we have to fear... is nothing..."

...

"Nicely done," Odin said as the land was pulled to form a solid mass. "I knew Undinemon could handle this. I thank you. Your payment will be sent to the troop base."

"It was nothing, sir!" Alphys said, looking down at Mermaidmon. "It's just a spear. We're lucky we got out alive."

Footsteps sounded and the group turned. Lo and behold, Nappy and Hapstamon came from the forest brush accompanied by a white-haired girl with her Digimon, a humanoid, red cube girl.

"Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in something."

"Nappy!" Alphys said in surprise. "You look confident. What happened? Who's that?"

"Oh, she's Sophie from Beach Gems. We began an alliance between our troops. That allies up with Solar Cresents and Hetaworld Power."

Sophie nodded. "And Valhalla Warriors and Slimeballs. We can make it far into the Finals with a strong set of allies."

"You two have been busy," Odin commented, "We just reunited the land here. You can meet Slimeballs soon."

Sophie suddenly stood at attention. "Oh dear. I forgot! I need to back to Home Base. Steven must be worried sick when I sent a distress call and never responded! I'm sorry, but I will return! Thank you for helping, Nappy." She turned and ran back into the forest. Rubimon turned and smiled.

"Hapstamon. You were awesome. I would love to fight with you again!"

"Likewise, darling."

"Rubimon!"

She waved and ran after her human partner.

"Hey, guys!"

They looked across the landmass, seeing four more humans with their partners. Grillby, Dreepamon, Bratty, and Cattymon were all familiar, but there was an Afriacan-American female with blue hair with a watery blob Digimon and a Latina female with a glowing blob Digimon.

"Grillby! Bratty!"

"We are, like, so happy to see you guys!"

Odin paced across the land to stand before the blue-haired woman. "Beatrix."

"Odin! Thora is waiting!"


	9. Chapter 9

"No!"

The forest path cut off at a drop into the ocean. Grillby groaned, looking over at Beatrix and Bratty with their partners.

"We walked this way yesterday!"

"Bea!"

They turned, seeing another girl flying over this divide. She was riding a glowing firefly Digimon and waving.

"Oh, hey! That's Ayala! She's the newest member here."

As they got over land, the Digimon returned to a ball-like form and the girl came off. She had tan skin and dark brown hair and, as expected, a Tag and Crest. Her Digimon was a happy ball like the others in her group, but had antenna and wings.

"The land began to split as I was coming back! I think the Divide happened!"

"Divide?" Bratty asked, "What's the Divide?"

Beatrix looked to Grillby, mouthing 'we have to go back'.

...

"Ah, yes. The Divide." Thora pulled an old notebook from a shelf and sat before the four humans. "When competitive Digitale was in its infancy, a division of the land was meant to be made. It was meant to separate the young'uns from allies and enemies and cause the real competition for resources. Only those with the wit to raid or the skill to gather would survive."

Bratty looked to her Digimon with a worried look. "Then what happened?"

"Well, it was scrapped as an idea because the higher-ups thought it was too intense. However, we kept the code in the game because we planned for it to be in smaller competitions. I didn't know we had to face it. Motherboardmon must be serious."

Cattymon looked up at Thora, ears perked up in curiosity. "Motherboardmon?"

Thora sighed. "Back when we were developing the reality of the game, I was into a dashing man. Hobson. He had a loyal Digimon at his side, which became the motherboard of the world. Motherboardmon. She had to be attached to the center of the world. Every event that happened up here was at her command. Hobson had to visit her often becuase she grew lonely in her state of being."

"That is like, so sweet," Bratty commented.

"It was not to last." Thora sighed, her eyes forming tears. "One day, on the way to the office, Hobson was hit by an inattentive driver. He was taken to the hospital and died hours later. Motherboardmon never had the concept of death and the grief of losing her friend destroyed her coding. Without a partner, she had nothing. She felt betrayed. So, that's what she did. She decided to break trust in everyone, slowly losing herself to corrupted code."

Cattymon curlled up in Bratty's lap. Bratty was crying. "That's, like, so sad!"

Grillby looked to them and back to Thora. "So, she's causing this?"

"Afraid so. The only way to stop her is to have a second Motherboardmon. We programmed a Zeromon. That's the Rookie stage of Motherboardmon. Another will appear if the code senses that the Motherboard is falling to corruption. Luckily, I know where this Zeromon is."

"You do?"

Thora smiled, then turned to Beatrix.

Beatrix's eyes widened. "You don't mean."

"Valhalla Warriors own the Zeromon."

...

"ODIN STEPHANSON!"

Odin gave no response as he looked up.

"Arthur Kirkland."

A large, harpy creature was flying overhead. Upon his back was a blonde man with bushy eyebrows.

"You are assisting a rookie troop! You should know the strongest survive here!"

Bratty, Grillby, Ayala, and Beatrix gazed over the Divide as a harpy Digimon was attacking Odin and Alphys.

 _Oh dear. It's worse than I thought._ There was a screen floating above Beatrix, allowing Thora to see what was going on. _That explains why they're missing._

"Storytime!" Catty chirped from the feet of Bratty. "C'mon Phosphormon!"

Ayala's Digimon chirped and flew next to the cat Digimon.

 _It's not a happy one, but okay. I once sent Beatrix to the suspected lair of Motherboardmon to see what she was doing._

"It was crazy, I tell you!" Beatrix said in a hushed tone, "Humans and Digimon! Both in cages. If not in cages, they were shoving code into them to corrupt their Digivolutions!"

 _I looked into it myself. It seems that Motherboardmon is hypnotizing humans and Digimon to make an army to tear apart troops from the inside. Arthur Kirkland was one of these missing people._

"You mean?" Bratty looked over the Divide to see a blue Digimon helping a mermaid Digimon.

"Unisonmon there is corrupted."

 _Come back to Home Base. We have to set up defenses._

...

"Okay, Shields are up. Radar is on."

"We will handle any warning that'll come, yup yup!"

Viktor and Radiencemon, a green ball Digimon with yellow eyes and mouth, saluted to Thora and returned to the Forge.

"Thora!"

Beatrix ran in and saluted. "We're here!"

"Good. Send Bratty and Cattymon to the Forge with Viktor and Radiencemon. She might not be able to Digivolve yet. Grillby will join the defense with us."

"What? No way!" Bratty yelled, "This is an issue we all have to deal with!"

"Yeah!" Cattymon added, "We can help you!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't have someone fall to foolishness. You must stay behind."

 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

 _Forge Security to main floor. Intruder coming from the North side._

...

Viktor's head was covered in all kinds of gear. A headset with a microphone. A visor to see into the outside. Bratty, Cattymon, and Radiencemon all watched what was going on on a screen.

...

A blonde male fell out of the forest into the shoreline of the lake. A small bat Digimon clung to his back. The boy coughed and gasped for air.

"Free... we're out..."

"Intruder!"

Nilemon was looking over at the boy with Beatrix inside her, making the call.

"You have intruded on Slimeballs territory! Turn back or be destroyed!"

The boy turned to his partner, his eyes wide. He looked back at Nilemon.

"...Largophosphormon!" A dragonfly Digimon flew over the lake Digimon.

"...Largopinkballmon!" A pink bear Digimon was beside Nilemon.

"...Largohoneymon!" A golden bee appeared.

"...Largotabbymon!" A tiger appeared.

"...Goromon!" A different Digimon. He was akin to a goat with golden hair.

Beatrix looked around. "Where's Hydromon? He's supposed to defend us!"

...

"Wait! He's innocent!" Bratty slammed the floor with her fists. "This isn't fair!"

Cattymon felt her fur stand on end.

"Viktor, what's the file of him?"

He readjusted his microphone, obviously telling the outside fighters the information. "Allen Avadonia and Battymon. Went missing with the entire Evil Chronicles Troop. Likely fallen to Motherboardmon and her tricks. Fire when ready."

Bratty's eyebrows furrowed and her teeth ground. "No! He's innocent! Hold back!"

The warm feeling came to Catty in stronger waves.

 _"THIS IS, LIKE, NOT JUST TO THE BOY!"_

The cat Digimon burst into light.

"Cattymon, Digivolve to..." Her body grew into a more lithe form, like a cheetah. A heavy pair of wings formed as if they were made of gold. A golden mask formed around the face of the new Champion. "...Sphinxmon!"

Viktor removed his headset, his eyes wide in shock. Radiencemon hid behind his legs.

"This is not good, no no..."

Bratty was met to the gilded eyes of her partner. "Sphinxmon?"

"Yes, Sphinxmon. The Digimon once revered as a fair and honest judge has arrived to give this boy his trial."

A smile appeared on Bratty's face. "That's, like, the coolest thing I heard all day."

Viktor clapped his hands. "Then, what are you waiting for?! Get out there!"

...

"Stop the attack!"

The Digimon all turned to see a smaller, sphinx Digimon standing with Bratty on top of her.

"Cattymon?" Goromon asked in a low voice, almost in disbelief.

"Silence. I have arrived to tell the true nature of Mister Avadonia and Battymon." Sphinxmon slowly walked forward. As her paws met the lake, she didn't sink. She simply paced gracefully across the pond. As she passed, light came from the Champion Digimon, all returning to a Rookie form.

Allen clung to Battymon and looked up at Sphinxmon in fear.

"Do not be alarmed, child. Show me your hearts." The gilded eyes of the mask shined a white light. The two saw small hearts form before their chests and floated into Bratty's hands.

"Whoa. What are these?"

"They are the hearts of Allen and Battymon. Now, take these." A golden wing folded out, giving Bratty two white feathers. Sphinxmon turned to the waiting humans and Digimon. "I shall now judge them! If their hearts are lighter than the feathers, they have no corruption in heart. Let us begin. Scales of Truth!"

Her wings fired outwards, lighting up with the same white light. The golden wings morphed into a pair of scales.

"The feathers, Bratty"

Bratty placed the feathers onto one of her plates. It lowered to the ground.

"Now, the hearts."

She gently placed the hearts onto the second plate.

Everyone gasped.

They did not even move. The feathers were heavier.

"Allen Avadonia and Battymon of the former Troop, Evil Chronicles. You have been found innocent." The hearts and feathers vanished, their light returning to their chests. "Sphinxmon has spoken!" She burst into light, her form returning to the cat Digimon seen before.

Allen stood up, looking over at Bratty and Cattymon. "Thank you, thank you so much."

"But, how did you know?"

Cattymon smiled. "Easy! Their hearts were, like, lighter than feathers! Legend says if that is true, they're, like, innocent."

Beatrix walked up to them. "But what do you mean by 'former Troop'?"

Catty's smile vanished. "His Troop was disbanded because all the members went missing. I could tell from the hearts. He needs a new Troop."

Beatrix looked across the shore to Thora and her teammates. Thora smiled and nodded.

"Hey. We just got an opening for Slimeballs. How about it, Allen? Sorry for attacking you, but if Sphinxmon can tell you're innocent, so can I. Wanna be a Slimeball?"

He looked to Battymon. "Uh..."

"You were about to kill us," the bat Digimon said in a low voice, "But we'll be booted if we don't get a Troop."

Allen smiled. "We're in."

...

"Nicely done," Odin said as the land was pulled to form a solid mass. "I knew Undinemon could handle this. I thank you. Your payment will be sent to the troop base."

"It was nothing, sir!" Alphys said, looking down at Mermaidmon. "It's just a spear. We're lucky we got out alive."

Footsteps sounded and the group turned. Lo and behold, Nappy and Hapstamon came from the forest brush accompanied by a white-haired girl with her Digimon, a humanoid, red cube girl.

"Sorry I'm late. I got caught up in something."

"Nappy!" Alphys said in surprise. "You look confident. What happened? Who's that?"

"Oh, she's Sophie from Beach Gems. We began an alliance between our troops. That allies up with Solar Cresents and Hetaworld Power."

Sophie nodded. "And Valhalla Warriors and Slimeballs. We can make it far into the Finals with a strong set of allies."

"You two have been busy," Odin commented, "We just reunited the land here. You can meet Slimeballs soon."

Sophie suddenly stood at attention. "Oh dear. I forgot! I need to back to Home Base. Steven must be worried sick when I sent a distress call and never responded! I'm sorry, but I will return! Thank you for helping, Nappy." She turned and ran back into the forest. Rubimon turned and smiled.

"Hapstamon. You were awesome. I would love to fight with you again!"

"Likewise, darling."

"Rubimon!"

She waved and ran after her human partner.

"Hey, guys!"

They looked across the landmass, seeing four more humans with their partners. Grillby, Dreepamon, Bratty, and Cattymon were all familiar, but there was an African-American female with blue hair with a watery blob Digimon and a Latina female with a glowing blob Digimon.

"Grillby! Bratty!"

"We are, like, so happy to see you guys!"

Odin paced across the land to stand before the blue-haired woman. "Beatrix."

"Odin! Thora is waiting!"

Odin looked back at Alphys and Nappy. "I must go now. Please, be safe." He walked across the land bridge, passing Grillby and Bratty.

"Grillby! Bratty! Dreepamon! Cattymon! You guys are okay!"

Bratty smiled confidently, looking to her partner.

"We got, like, a lot to tell you guys. Let's go home."


End file.
